As the 2014-15 NBA PLAYOFFS continue and are now in the 2nd Round of the playoffs and the 2nd Game of the Western Conference 7 game series with the No. 3 seed Clippers of Los Angeles are playing the No. 2 seed Rockets of Houston and the 2nd game will be played in Houston on Wednesday the 6th of May 2015 at 9:40 PM ET and seen on TNT TV.
Due to questionable injuries, at the time of this preview there were no Vegas Odds available. The 1st Game of the Series was also played in Houston and the Clippers beat the Rockets at home 117-101 to take a 1-0 series lead. The 2nd Game as we said is also in Houston on Wednesday the 6th of May as the Clippers are at the Rockets and game time is 9:40 PM ET. Then in the 3rd Game on Friday the 8th of May in California as the Rockets play the Clippers at 10:40 PM ET.
The 4th Game is also in California on Sunday the 10th of May as the Rockets again take on the Clippers at 8:40 PM ET. Then the 5th Game (if needed) will be played on Tuesday the 12th of May in Houston as the Clippers are at the Rockets with time TBD. The 6th Game (if needed) is to be played on Thursday the 14th of May in California as the Rockets play the Clippers and the time TBD. If needed, the 7th and Final Game will be played on Sunday the 17th of May with the Clippers at the Rockers once again with the time TBD.
In question is can the Clippers ride the strength of their Game 1 win to win Game 2, or with the Rockets make a comeback at home to tie the series at 1-1?
If you’re using an Offshore sportsbook to Bet on NBA, and are a Clippers of Los Angeles fan, in Game 1 your B. Griffin had a monstrous game with some 13 assists, 14 board rebounds and scored 26 this past Monday, which happened to be his 2nd consecutive triple/double. With their star C. Paul out again for game 2, the Clippers will look to Griffin once again to fill in the blanks, as in the 2014-15 season against Houston he average for those 3 games some 8 assists 11.8 rebounds of the boards and 22.4 points per game.
The Clippers had other help also as A. Rivers who was substituting for the injured Paul had 17 points, while J. Crawford came off the bench to score 21 points. The thing that sealed this game for the Clippers as the tied an NBA playoff record was in the 2nd half of the game, their 3-point shooting as they completed 11 of 16 which is like 68% completion. So the name of the game for the Clippers is for Griffin to keep the Rockets busy on the inside, which will give the Clippers 3-point shooters more room for their attempts. In the Clippers last 10 road games they are 9 and 1 against the spread and straight up.
If you’re a Rockets of Houston fan, you know your star Harden had his normal points scored and assists he usually has when they win, and in Game 14 he had 12 assists and 20 points, put that proved insufficient to win, plus the fact that he turned the ball over some nine times, also did not help the Rockets fate. Overall in that Game 1 Harden lacked his luster performance that finished him in 2nd place in the MVP standings, and he only made 13 shots in total in the entire game, while of the bench, J. Smith and C. Brewer each had 13 shots during the game.
If Houston is to win this game 2 the need Harden to duplicate his performance he displayed in the series with the Maverick as he averaged in those game 28 points per game. That plus they need Howard to continue his pace of Game 1 as je had 10 rebounds and 22 points, and they need better play overall off the bench, as this is an important part of the overall scoring scheme for the Rockets of Houston. Keep in mind that the Rockets in their ultimate 10 games against the Clippers are only 3-7 straight up and against the spread as well. The experts seem to think the Rockets will slowdown the Clippers while they step up and win this Game 2 and even the series at 1-1!