Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers: Bold predictions for Christmas night
3. Warriors sink more than half of their 3-pointers
Right now, the Warriors are the second-best team in the league in terms of finding the bottom of the net on 3-point attempts. We’re going to see a prime example of that downtown dominance on Christmas in the form of an above-50-percent game from beyond the arc by Golden State.
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That’s saying something, especially since that type of efficiency is rare from downtown — even for the Warriors. Surprisingly, they’ve actually struggled from 3-point range in the last week or two. Heck, against the Toronto Raptors on Dec. 12, Golden State connected on only 23.1 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc.
It’s even more impressive when you consider the Lakers are no slouch when it comes to defending the long ball. Although they’re ranked 18th in the NBA against the 3-point shot, they’ve allowed opponents to sink only 35.6 percent of their shots from distance.
Are you starting to see how impressive making more than half would be for the Warriors? Okay, good. Glad we got that figured out.
So with Stephen Curry stroking it as per usual, Kevin Durant getting in some good looks and Klay Thompson catching fire at some point, the Warriors will simply start raining 3s. It’s a big part of how they’ve beaten James three of the last four NBA Finals, so why not employ that tactic again on Christmas night?