With the 2015 NBA Playoffs moving into the 2nd Round in the Western Conference with the No. 3 seed Clippers of Los Angeles playing the No. 2 seed Rockets of Houston with this Game 1 being played in the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas and tip-off at 9:40 PM ET and seen on TNT TV.
The opening odds from Vegas on the Round 2 Game 1 is favoring the Rockets of Houston at -5 ½ with the Total at 212 and -220 on the Money Line with the comeback on the Clippers of Los Angeles at +5 ½ and +180 on the Money line.
After this opening 1st Game in Houston the 2nd Game of the Playoffs will also be in Houston on Wednesday the 6th of May with the Clippers at the Rockets at 9:40 PM ET and seen on TNT. Then the 3rd Game to be played in Los Angeles on Friday the 8th of May with the Rockers at the Clippers at 10:30 PM ET and seen on ESPN TV. The 4th Game will be played also in Los Angeles on Sunday the 10th of May with the Rockets at the Clippers and tip-off at 8:30 PM ET and seen on TNT. The 5th Game (if needed) will be played on Tuesday the 12th of May in Houston with time TBD with the Clippers visiting the Rockets. Then the 6th Game (if needed) will be played at Los Angeles on Thursday the 14th of May with the Rockets visiting the Clippers and the time TBD and seen on ESPN TV. The 7th and Final Game will be played in Houston on Sunday the 17th of May 2015 with the Clippers visiting the Rockets with time and TV TBD.
If you Bet on the NBA at an Online Sportsbook, the game on Monday will be a test to see if the Rockets have grown in stature and experience since their 2 regular season losses against the Clippers of L.A. and both losses by double-digits. In the 1st of those 2 games the Rockets found themselves in foul trouble early and Paul and Redick went crazy for the Clippers in the 1st half and scored 78 points in that half and won the game 137-118, then a week later the Rockets came into that game 2 strong but again had foul problems and were outscored in the 2nd half by some 22 points.
The Rockets have had turnover problems all season and that was another downfall in those 2 regular season games as the Clippers scored some 27 points in the 2 games off of the Rockets turnovers.
But we think the Rockets have since matured and are now a different team, as they have gained confidence and have won 10 of their ultimate 11 games, and the coaches have learned how to make use of their incredibly talented players.
As most teams change the Clippers have also and in bad and good ways, like B. Griffin has grown in all areas of the game, D. Jordan has bloomed under Coach Rivers’ and J. Crawford has taking his scoring to high levels, and then the addition of B.B. Davis (known as “Big Baby” could definitely help out as well. But on the down side is the injury to Redick and the questionable timetable on his return, as he is an important part of their playoff puzzle ass in the two games that the Clippers beat the rockets in regular season Redick was awesome.
Putting all that talk to the back of the room this Monday night game is not a final exam for either of the 2 teams, but both come into the playoffs with big expectations and that there will be no trophy presentation at the end of this 1st game. This 1st game offers the Rockets a chance to display their improvements with the present team rosters and to win this game will give them the will power and strength to face the coming game challenges.
This playoff brings together some players who are all looking for player awards like Harden and Howard for the Rockets and Crawford and Griffin for the Clippers as well in this series. Then the dynamics of both teams under the basket has be great with the Rockets ranking fifth overall and the Clippers 2nd overall.
An interesting part of this game will be the shooting and defending 3-pointers from the corners. The Clippers are 2nd in the NBA with 3 pointers from the corner at 7.3 completions per game, while the Rockets are 2nd in the League to the Thunder in defending against 3-pointers from the corner.
If the Rockets are to upset the Clippers in this 1st Game, while the attention is on the stars, it will more than likely be some supporting players from the bench to play a big role, like maybe C. Parsons and P. Beverley keeping check on the Clippers Paul. Thus the media experts are predicting with caution that the Rockets will win this series in the 7th and final game.