For the past three years, the Golden State Warriors have been building a squad that is virtually at the point where it is unstoppable, especially over a seven-game period in a finals showdown.
They have won the NBA championship twice in the last three years and were unlucky not to have won in 2016 when they went down 4-3 to the Cleveland Cavaliers after being 3-1 up heading into game five.
They are massive favorites heading into the 2017/18 season, with Cleveland next in line. The Warriors get even shorter when talking about the Western Conference and basically no value at all.
With no value for Golden State, punters may look to some of the more viable challengers to increase their profit. Using some of the many promotions online can also be an advantage when making a bet on a team that is not the favorite. For example, if you head to the NBA betting page by onlinesportbetting.ca, you can find a number of free bet offers that will minimize your risk if it happens to be the Warriors year once again.
There are some teams out there who are going to push the Warriors this season, though, and we’re going to take a look at who has done enough preseason to make a successful title charge against this Goliath of a team.
Obviously, Cleveland is the easy choice here and any team with LeBron James is going to be a competitive side. They will undoubtedly be a powerhouse in their conference but the fact that they play in the East means we won’t see any matchups here until the playoffs. Isaiah Thomas’ hip injury is a bit of a worry for the side, but they do have the talent to compensate for the loss if they use their roster wisely.’
Now that the Cavaliers are out of the way, we can look at the teams that can grind them down from within the Western Conference. These will be the teams that can make an impact on the Warriors before the playoffs by wearing them out and pushing them physically on the court from week to week.