Simmons less bullish on Warriors' over/under than Russillo

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The Warriors have completed preseason play with an undefeated record and (likely) finalized their roster to open the regular season on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers. So, how do we feel about their PointsBet win total over/under of 47.5 victories?

It appears The Ringer's Bill Simmons and Ryen Russillo find themselves on opposite sides of the debate ... maybe.

"I'm going over," Russillo said Wednesday on Simmons' podcast. "Their defense is really good. I think they figured out some stuff rotationally. I don't expect much from (Jonathan) Kuminga as a rookie. I'm not even a huge (Moses) Moody guy. I'm not basing this on any kind of trade. I just think that, in a weird way, Steph (Curry) was overlooked as a guy that was able to carry [a bad team] ... and then Steph has that season, and it was almost one of those weird seasons where you could appreciate him even more than a season when they're playing in the Finals because of how bad it was around him. So, I do think they figured some things out there, and I think there's some guys coming back at some point ... I'm ready."

Simmons, meanwhile, isn't as bullish on the Warriors, though he believes it's going to be a close call.

"I think this is going to take like two months," Simmons countered. "They're going to figure out these rookies. I think they're going to be .500, maybe even a little below .500 heading into that Christmas game. There's the (Andrew) Wiggins ... reacclimating him, he missed most of training camp. You've got the Otto Porter thing -- they're relying on him, we know he's going to get hurt. (James) Wiseman, you've got to figure out what you've got there. You know they're going to rely on (Andre) Iguodala early -- I think he's done unfortunately ... I hope I'm wrong. But I think until Klay (Thompson) comes back, this feels like a .500 team to me."

"I like their play-in odds of plus-155," Simmons added. "I think they're a seven or an eight seed. If Klay was here the whole year, I'd feel great about it, but he's not."

RELATED: Warriors' total roster cost projects to be staggering amount

The Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers and Lakers -- the Nos. 5-7 seeds in the West last season -- finished with identical .583 winning percentages, which equates to 47.8 wins in a traditional 82-game season. So, even if the Warriors finish where Simmons thinks they will, it's still possible that they could do so while winning 48-or-more games. 

Beating the Lakers on Tuesday would be a great start.

Editor's note: All odds are provided by our partner, PointsBet. PointsBet is our Official Sports Betting Partner and we may receive compensation if you place a bet on PointsBet for the first time after clicking our links.

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