Backing injury-depleted Warriors a bad dream for NBA bettors

Welcome to “the real NBA,” Warriors.

Playing without injured starters Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, Golden State suffered its third straight loss and fifth in seven games in Sunday night’s 104-92 defeat to the San Antonio Spurs.

“We’ve had such a charmed existence the last four seasons. So, of course, this is the toughest stretch we’ve been in,” coach Steve Kerr said afterward. “This is the real NBA. We haven’t been in the real NBA the last few years. We’ve been in this dream.”

Backing the Warriors has been a nightmare for bettors recently as they’re on an 0-5 slide against the spread and are 8-10 ATS overall this season.

The only six-figure wager placed at William Hill sports book over the weekend was on Golden State as a 3-point favorite Saturday night over the Dallas Mavericks. The gambler lost his bet as the Mavericks beat the Warriors 112-109 behind Luka Doncic’s 24 points.

Golden State, which led by eight in the fourth quarter, was up one with 1:32 left before Doncic made a floater in the lane to give Dallas the lead for good.

Besides injuries, the Warriors also are trying to move past a blowup that took place between Green and Kevin Durant at the end of a 121-116 loss to the Clippers on Nov. 12 that led to the team giving Green a one-game suspension.

Golden State, which remains the minus 200 favorite to three-peat as NBA champions, will try to snap its skid Wednesday night at home against the Thunder, which took a 9-1 cover streak into Monday’s game against the Kings.

SuperContest shuffle

There’s a new leader in the Westgate SuperContest. The entry @Pigskin_Junkies went 3-2 to run its record to a stunning 41-14 ATS (74.5 percent) and replace former leader Personal Gourmet, which went 0-4 on Sunday and had the Chiefs (plus 3½) on Monday night.

@Pigskin_Junkies had winners on the Colts, Broncos and Jaguars while losing on the Panthers and Falcons. Personal Gourmet lost on the Vikings, Eagles, Titans and Texans.

The SuperContest drew a record 3,123 entries this year that paid a $1,500 entry fee and make five weekly NFL picks ATS. The winner will earn a $1.4 million grand prize and second place is worth $517,168.

Ultimate Football Challenge showdown

Handicapper Paul Stone, a longtime Review-Journal contributor, leads the Golden Nugget’s Ultimate Football Challenge with a 52-21-4 ATS mark (71.2 percent) after going 4-3 ATS Saturday and Sunday. But Stone (@paulstonesports) had his lead trimmed to one point over Monsterloc (53-24), who went 5-2 ATS.

Chris Kozak, aka @MuckedNuts, went 7-0 ATS to cut his deficit to three points at 51-26 ATS. Kozak is the two-time defending Golden Nugget football contest champion. He won the last two $2,000-entry Friday Football Showdowns for a total of $168,000.

The revamped UFC features 308 entries who paid a $1,000 fee and pick seven weekly college and NFL sides ATS. The winner will earn $118,800 and second place is worth $59,400.

More betting: Follow at reviewjournal.com/betting and @RJ_Sports on Twitter.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.