Tip-off: Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET
Line: Golden State -13.0, Total: 223.5

Blake Griffin and the Clippers will be looking to upset the Warriors in Oakland on Saturday.

The Clippers are coming off of a 121-110 loss as 4.5-point favorites in Philadelphia on Tuesday, and they have now lost three of their past four games both SU and ATS. One thing Los Angeles will have going for it on Saturday is that the team is playing on three days rest. In their only other game when playing with three or more days rest this season, the Clippers won-and-covered. It won’t be as easy against the Warriors, though. Golden State is coming off of a 113-103 victory as a 9.5-point favorite, and the team has now won eight of its past nine games. The Warriors have been outstanding offensively, as well. They have now shot 45.0% or better from the floor in 17 straight games, and that is not easy to do. The last time Los Angeles and Golden State met was on Dec. 7 and the Warriors won that game 115-98 as a four-point road favorite. It was Golden State’s seventh straight victory over Los Angeles, and it will be tough for the Clippers to snap that streak without PG Chris Paul (Out indefinitely – Hand). Golden State is a remarkable 20-3 SU when playing at home this season, and the team was favored in all of those contests. The Warriors are, however, just 12-11 ATS in those 23 games, so it’s not a forgone conclusion that they’ll blow out Los Angeles in this one.

The Clippers are playing without Paul, but they did get PF Blake Griffin (20.9 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 4.7 APG, 1.0 SPG) back last game. Griffin was solid for a guy that hadn’t played in 18 games, finishing with 12 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and a steal in 29 minutes of action. He should be able to play a bit more on Saturday, and it’s likely he’ll shoot better than the 3-for-11 he did against Philly. Griffin was definitely feeling some rust, and should be a lot sharper this weekend. He is, however, going to need to move things along rather quickly. With Paul out, Griffin becomes one of the team’s main distributors. If he does not play like his usual self then this will likely be a blowout. C DeAndre Jordan (12.5 PPG, 14.0 RPG, 1.8 BPG) is another excellent player in this frontcourt, but his productivity will ultimately be determined by his performance at the charity stripe. If Jordan is not making his free throws then the Warriors are going to hack him as often as they can. That would make him rather unusable for head coach Doc Rivers, so it’s interesting to see how that plays out. One guy to watch out for in this backcourt is SG Austin Rivers (11.9 PPG). Rivers has played very well in Paul’s absence and is now averaging 19.8 PPG and 4.4 APG over the past five contests. He’ll need to play well on Saturday, as the Clippers have to find a way to keep up with the Warriors’ backcourt.

The Warriors are coming off of a solid win in Charlotte and they will definitely be feeling great about their chances of beating the Paul-less Clippers on Saturday. With Paul out, PG Steph Curry (24.6 PPG, 6.2 APG, 4.2 RPG, 1.7 SPG) should be able to go off in this one. Curry had 28 points against Charlotte on Wednesday, and he is shooting 45.1% from the outside over the past five games. Look for him to keep it up this weekend, as Rivers is not capable of staying in front of him. SF Kevin Durant (26.2 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 4.7 APG, 1.7 BPG, 1.2 SPG) is another problem for the Clippers in this one. Los Angeles is weakest at the small forward position, so Durant should be in for a big game on Saturday. He had only 16 points the last time he played this team, but it’d be surprising if he didn’t get at least 30 this time around. SG Klay Thompson (21.1 PPG) and PF Draymond Green (10.7 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 7.5 APG, 1.9 SPG, 1.4 BPG) are also All-Stars, and they’ll make their presences felt in this one.