With the 2015-16 NBA Regular season coming to the All-Star break we still have a few interesting match-ups to preview, and 1 is the game between Western Conference rivals from the West Coast with the 27-16 Houston Rockets playing at the 46-4 Golden State Warriors with the game being played at the famous Oracle Arena in Oakland, California with kick-off scheduled for 10:40 PM ET and seen on TNT TV.
The odds for those that Bet on NBA as the SBG sportsbook will find the Golden State Warriors favored at -14 with the Over/under at 230 and no Money Line available, while the Houston Rockets are listed as the underdogs at +14. Then there is the question all basketball fans are asking is can the Warriors be stopped at this point with their recent win over the Thunder of OKC 116-108?
Now the next victims who will face the incredible powerful offense of the Warriors is tonight as they get the Houston Rockets on their chopping block, and some fans are curious as to whether the Rockets can pull of a major upset in this NBA Western Conference game.
The fans of the Rockets know that their team coming into this game tonight have lost 4 of their ultimate 6 games, but the team seem to be in high spirits as the All-Star break nears. Their ultimate loss was a 96-79 rout by the Trail Blazers of Portland this past Saturday the 6th of Feb. 2016, as the Rockets still seek their form of last season and their winning ways.
In that game the Rockets struggle from the floor only scoring on 32.6 % from the field and that is not acceptable for what is to be a high scoring team like the Rockets. Their Harden has been carrying the offensive load for the team as in that game with the Blazers he scored 33 points, but gave up 11 turnovers as a result of the team members not stepping up. But in this game with the Warriors they all must performed at their best if they are to have a chance at an upset over the Warriors.
So the Rockets need to know that scoring is possible against the Warriors, as in their last game with the Thunder this past Saturday their K. Durant scored some 41 points. For sure if the Rockets put it together their Harden can duplicate what the Thunders Durant did this past Saturday. But he must not repeat his performance he has in last season’s game 58 of the Western Conference finals when he only made 2 of his 10 shots from the field and committed an incredible 12 turnovers in that game.
That defeat last season at the Oracle was their 11th loss in their ultimate 12 games at that arena. Then take into fact that the Warriors have a consecutive winning streak of some 42 games at their home Oracle Arena. So Rocket fans need to be prepared for a similar outcome that the Thunder and most NBA teams have had at the Oracle Arena.
The fans of the streaking Golden State Warriors know that in that last Saturday game against Thunder that they won 116-108 despite their 3-point shooting was not connecting but still got that victory.
In that last game the Warriors super star S. Curry only scored 26 points with 11 assists in the game, but was only able to connect on 1 of his 9 3-point attempts. What stood out in that win was a great performance from their reserves/bench as they also overcame the Thunder of OKC.
Their bench actually outperformed the Thunders at a 42-17 rate on Saturday, which helped the team in ending the game with a field goal % of some 49.6% in the game.
What’s interesting and surprising about the Rockets is that they from beyond the 3-point mark are shooting 31.2 per game, while the Warriors trail in that category with 30.3 or 1 more point per game, but the Warriors are making 42.6% of their 3-point attempts, while the Rockets are only averaging 35.1% of their 3-point shots.
But after all is said and done the home arena of the Warriors, the Oracle should provide a scenario against the Rockets possible scoring splurge, since the Warriors have not lost at home to the Rockets since back in the 2013-14 season.
The prediction from the offshore bookmaker for this game is that the Golden State Warriors are not to be stopped, and overpower the Houston Rockets at the Oracle 129-104.