Clippers-Warriors Getting 50% More Money Than Usual Due to DeMarcus Cousins’ Return

Betting Odds: Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Clippers

• Spread: Warriors -7
• Over/Under: 242
• Time: 10:30 p.m. ET

The Yankees. The Patriots. The Warriors.

Each league has its own most-public team, and for the NBA, it is definitely the two-time defending champs.

According to our Bet Labs database, it's not very common for a team to get at least 75% of the spread bets. In fact, it's happened only 49 times this season. The Celtics have hit that range five times; the 76ers are Spurs are next at four.

The Warriors? 12.

Twelve times the Warriors have gotten more than 75% of the bets.

What about the money? On the season, the Rockets and 76ers are tied with seven instances in which they've received 75% of the spread dollars. The Warriors have more than double that at 15.

The total number of bets also matters, though, and right now we're already tracking nearly 5,000 bets in our app — still more than five hours away from tip.

We reached out to D.J. Fields. Here's what he had to say about Friday night's game:

"The Warriors are always a favorite pick, but tonight it's been taken to the next level. The public has driven the line up in anticipation of Boogie's return and we're looking at a 50% increase in the handle we typically see on the Warriors."

Boogie, of course, is Golden State center DeMarcus Cousins.

A fun fact from our Warriors-Clippers betting guide: The total of 241.5 will be the ninth over/under of 240 or higher just this season; there were eight over/unders of 240 or more points in the 20 seasons prior to the current.

In games that the Warriors have received 70% or more spread bets, they've gone 77-91-4 (45.8%) against the spread (ATS) under Steve Kerr. In that position this season, they are 11-13-1 ATS.

Bookmakers will certainly shade the line to deal with public teams, although the Warriors are on a complete tear right now, routinely putting up more than 140 points and going 3-1-1 ATS over their past five. There are certainly reasons why they could continue to cover, as we discussed here.

Will they hit the -7 number? Bettors certainly hope so, although bookmakers will all be huge Clippers fans tonight.