There’s that famous adage in betting: Good teams win; great teams cover. Alas, this latest iteration of the Golden State Warriors are merely a good bunch who doesn’t have quite the knockout punch of those yesteryear championship squads.
Case in point: They beat up on one of their old mates and Draymond Green practice combatant Jordan Poole in Friday’s late-night 129-118 romp over the Washington Wizards. The only “problem” with that outcome? Golden State was an 11.5-point favorite, and the Over/Under point total was 247 for the game. Steph Curry, Chris Paul, and Gary Payton II watched helplessly from the bench as Washington raced down the court to hit a buzzer-beating trey to cover the spread and push the Over/Under:
Chris Paul, Gary Payton, and Steph Curry covering their reactions while looking up at the scoreboard🤔
It’s obvious they knew the impact these free throws + three pointer had on bets
Over/Under 247 pushes with these points
Warriors -11.5 loses on the three pointer (won by 11) pic.twitter.com/lNsZCFNSGg
— Stunnah (@StunnahGG) December 23, 2023
With the total being 247, the spread Warriors -11.5, and the score being 127-115 with two free throws awarded to the Warriors.
Gary Payton was caught red handed clearly saying “Yo they might shoot after”. Indicating the spread and total may be impacted. He was CLEARLY AWARE. pic.twitter.com/fJir3DMHlN
— Stunnah (@StunnahGG) December 23, 2023
These guys clearly know what was at stake. LOL. Sports betting is exploding across the nation, so it’s kind of an unavoidable part of the scene now. Wagering on regular-season NBA is something I’m terrified of. Unless it’s your literal occupation and you eat, sleep and breathe the NBA, it’s not the most advisable path to tread.
Why do I say that? Well for one thing, you never know who the hell is playing without up-to-the-minute alerts because of load management. The season is so long and grueling that you never know who’s even going to try at either end of the court on a given night. Basketball is such a sport of volatile runs, too. If one team has a hot shooting night and explodes out to a big lead, the opponent can easily quit and conserve their energy for the next contest, especially if it’s the first leg of a back-to-back.
Talk about a dizzying nightmare of endless factors to sift through. But then, I suppose, imagine the elation Wizards spread bettors must’ve felt when that otherwise insignificant buzzer beater went in. On one hand, betting adds intrigue to the end of a lopsided game. But like…I don’t know. It’d drive me nuts.
PS, the most “Jordan Poole is our No. 1 option” stat line ever from the former Dub: 25 points on 7-of-21 shooting from the field. Poole is shooting 40.8% from the floor and 31.3% from 3-point range this season. Sounds about right. But you know what? Upon further reflection, it’s not really his fault that he was traded. The whole Draymond punching incident was ugly, and even if Poole was a bit of an immature punk who triggered the mercurial veteran, it didn’t feel like he was asking to be “THE GUY” somewhere else. Now, he’s in a terrible situation in Washington with a 5-23 record.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr had great perspective on the Poole-Draymond scuffle and how Poole’s time with the team ended in a recent piece by The Athletic‘s Anthony Slater:
“I know that in my heart, that when (the punch) happened, we handled it the best way we thought we could handle it. But in hindsight — and hindsight is always 20/20 — we could have done better for sure. I just hate the way it ended for Jordan here, because he is a huge success story. For us and for him, this was a great marriage. He helped us win a title. We helped him, you know, become a champion and a guy who signed a big contract, life-changing contract. It was all wildly successful. But I hate the way it ended.”
Now that Draymond is on indefinite suspension, my perception of Poole has shifted quite a bit. I thought they were kind of equally at fault for their infamous dust-up. Just look at how glowingly Steph and Klay Thompson talked about him. Pretty cool.
Klay talks about Jordan's special night and shares he got "chills" during the tribute video 🙌 pic.twitter.com/79YU01Y8UM
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 23, 2023
Steph says it was "really weird, but fun" playing against JP and is glad he got the reception he deserved 🫶 pic.twitter.com/8YGQ7WfybO
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) December 23, 2023
Also, how about this video tribute to Poole at Chase Center? It’s clear the organization still has a lot of love for him. Shoot, better to align with Poole these days than Draymond, that’s for sure.
Jordan Poole's return to Chase Center
KERR: “It was wonderful. The video and ovation Jordan got to me was the highlight of the game. So well deserved for what he did for our organization and for our fans and players and coaches.”pic.twitter.com/TAeE6ZnLPo
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) December 23, 2023
