Golden State at Houston: What Bettors Need to Know
By Covers.com
Golden State Warriors at Houston Rockets (-5, 210)
The Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets have put on some memorable shooting displays in their recent meetings and are again two of the top offenses in the league. The Warriors will look to post a third straight win behind Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson when they visit Houston on Friday. The Rockets tied an NBA record with 23 3-pointers in a 140-109 home win over Golden State last season but are coming off a 9-for-31 effort from beyond the arc in a loss to the Suns.
The Warriors snapped a five-game losing streak in the series and got a little payback for that record-setting performance when they put a 108-78 hurting on Houston in the final meeting last season on Mar. 17. Curry and Thompson combined for 11 3-pointers in that triumph and got hot together in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s 112-103 Raptors, in which Golden State overcame a 27-point deficit. “An incredible game,” Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. “…Just a huge win for us. I can’t say enough about how proud I am of this group.”
LINE: The game opened with Houston as 5-point home faves. The total is currently at 210.
COVERS POWER RANKINGS: Golden State (-11.5) - Houston (-10) + home court (-3) = Houston -1.5
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (11-8, 9-8-2 ATS): Several Golden State players and Jackson credited a halftime speech by backup center Jermaine O’Neal for the turnaround against the Raptors. “Jermaine O’Neal gave one of the realest speeches I’ve ever heard,” Thompson said. “He said, ‘We’ll see what we’re made of in the second half.’ We showed what we’re made of, resilient.” O’Neal backed it up on the court with 11 points and eight rebounds and was on the floor in crunch time in place of starting center Andrew Bogut. “We were making plays,” Jackson explained. “When (Bogut) left the game we were making plays. I wanted to get him a quick breather and then we began to make plays.”
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (13-7, 11-8-1 ATS): Houston leads the NBA in scoring at an average of 108.1 points but is slumping of late with back-to-back losses. James Harden, who went 4-of-5 from beyond the arc when the Rockets matched the 3-point record against the Warriors last season, had a horrible game in the 97-88 loss to Phoenix on Wednesday, going 0-of-10 from 3-point range and 3-of-17 overall. “We didn’t play very good, and that’s the bottom line,” coach Kevin McHale said.
TRENDS:
* Warriors are 2-8 ATS in the last 10 meetings in Houston.
* Underdog is 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings.
* Road team is 4-1 ATS in the last five meetings.
* Under is 5-2 in the last seven meetings.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Houston PG Jeremy Lin (knee) and F Chandler Parsons (back spasms) are both questionable.
2. Rockets C Dwight Howard had 18 rebounds on Wednesday, his most since a 24-board outburst on Nov. 11.
3. Curry is 20-for-40 from 3-point range over the last five games.