Houston Rockets at Golden State Warriors (-7, 226.5)
Series tied 1-1
The Golden State Warriors seized homecourt advantage from the Houston Rockets in their best-of-seven Western Conference finals, and that's proven to be a pretty significant edge for the defending champs. The Warriors put a 15-game home winning streak in the playoffs - tied for the NBA record - on the line when they host the Rockets in a critical Game 3 on Sunday night. Oddsmakers have the Dubs set as 7-point home favorities with the total at 226.5 points.
To keep its run alive and set a new league standard, Golden State needs to recover from a 22-point loss in Game 2 that saw guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson struggle to shoot a combined 10-for-30 from the floor. Golden State failed to cover as a 1.5-point road underdog.
"I've gone 0-for-11 before shooting 3s and 1-for-8, whatever the case is," Curry told reporters Friday. "I always shoot that next shot with the optimism and confidence that it's going in. So, you can work on stuff between practices and games to get your rhythm, just seeing the ball going in and working on your mechanics, but [I'll] never lose confidence in myself. That'll never change."
Houston sees an opportunity to take back control of the series and insists it is unfazed as it enters two straight games in Oakland.
"The challenge is you're playing Golden State," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni told reporters. "That's why they've won 15 in a row, not because of the building, but because they're good. I mean, everybody, all these players are used to playing in hostile environments or loud or whatever. I mean, it helps a little bit. Sometimes you feed off the energy also from the other crowd. So you try to take them out as soon as you can and take out the crowd, but they're a good basketball team."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT
LINE HISTORY: Golden State opened a 7-point home favorite for Game 3 and moved to -7.5 briefly before buyback on Houston brought the spread back to -7. The total opened 226.5 and has stayed relatively still heading into Sunday.
WHAT SHARPS SAY: "The Rockets travel to Golden State looking to regain a home-court advantage they lost in the series opener in Houston, knowing they have dropped 21 of the last 26 game in this series, including 11 of the last 13 games on this floor. It should be noted, though, that No. 1 seeds are 19-9 ATS as road dogs of more than six points since 1997." -- Marc Lawrence, Covers Experts Handicapper.
INJURY REPORT: Warriors - SG P. McCaw (Out, Back), SF C. Boucher (Out, Ankle)
MATCHUP CHART:
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (74-20 SU, 48-45-1 ATS, 39-54-1 O/U): Point guard Chris Paul had 16 points, six assists and three steals in the Game 2 win while fighting through a calf issue that he says will not hold him back for Sunday's tilt. "His foot was bothering him a little bit," D'Antoni told the media of Paul, who returned to practice Friday. "It shouldn't be a problem. Just normal. Nothing that would sideline him or anything. He's good." Eric Gordon scored 27 points while making 6-of-9 3-pointers in Game 2 after averaging 9.7 points and hitting 5-of-18 from beyond the arc over his previous three contests.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (67-27 SU, 40-53-1 ATS, 44-49-1 O/U): Coach Steve Kerr is one of many on the Golden State side hoping that a change of venue will help his team rediscover its mental edge. "Game 2 everything changed," Kerr told KNBR's Tolbert and Lund. "We gave up easy hoops. PJ Tucker got two wide open 3s in the corners in the second quarter. That got him going. Everything that Houston needed to get going, they got it. Some of it was their doing, some of it was lack of intensity and focus, and we've got to be better with that." Kevin Durant has carried the load offensively by averaging 37.5 points on 55.1 percent shooting.
CHEERLEADER WAR:
TRENDS:
- Rockets are just 2-5 ATS as underdogs this season.
- Rockets are 6-1 in the "Race to 20 Points" prop the past seven games.
- Warriors are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 home games.
- Under is 21-10 in Rockets' last 31 overall.
- Under is 19-7-1 in Warriors last 27 after allowing 100+ points in previous game.
Find more in-depth betting trends here.
COVERS CONSENSUS: 51 percent of spread bets are on Houston while 72 percent of totals bets are on the Over. Click here for the latest Covers Consensus numbers.
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