The NBA is guaranteed to have one less undefeated team by the end of Saturday night as the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets put their perfect records on the line at the Toyota Center.
The Warriors and Rockets are renowned for their star power and their ability to put the ball in the basket, but both team’s defenses have played a major part in their early season success. How will those defenses hold up when faced with the all-world talents of Stephen Curry and James Harden?
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[sc:NBAArticles ]Golden State Warriors vs. Houston Rockets Betting Preview
Where: Toyota Center, Houston
When: Saturday, November 8, 2014, 8:00 PM ET
Line: Golden State Warriors at Houston Rockets – view all NBA lines
Betting on the Golden State Warriors
Steve Kerr’s head coaching career has gotten off to a really good start as his Golden State Warriors have zoomed to a perfect 4-0 record. They’ve also covered all four games so far. The Warriors claimed their fourth win of the season with an emphatic 121-104 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, who’ve been touted as potential championship contenders.
[sc:NBA240banner ]Kerr has the Warriors’ many offensive weapons playing the fastest pace in the league, which has made them the second-best scoring team, averaging 109.5 points per game. He’s certainly been helped by having perhaps the most talented backcourt in the league in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. The Splash Brothers are currently third (Thompson, 27 PPG) and fourth (Curry, 26 PPG) in the league in scoring.
Curry and Thompson won’t have much in the way of defensive resistance against the Rockets. James Harden’s lack of effort on defense is almost a punch line at this point, and Patrick Beverley is likely to miss out after aggravating his hamstring injury.
Golden State’s own defense has been very solid early on, and a major reason for their excellent start. The Warriors are giving up just 93.8 points per game, which has contributed to their league-best plus-15.8 point differential. They are also ranked first in Defensive Efficiency.
The insertion of the versatile Draymond Green into the starting line-up for the still-injured David Lee has been a big help to their defensive scheme. Green will be a valuable asset defensively against the Rockets, as he has the mobility to switch on smaller perimeter players, especially in the pick-and-rolls which Harden and the Rockets like to run.
Furthermore, the Warriors might be one of the few teams who have the elite one-on-one defenders in Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala to go up against the Rockets’ star duo of Dwight Howard and James Harden.
Create a betting account now and go one-on-one with one of the elite sportsbooks around and see if you come out on top.
Betting on the Houston Rockets
A fantastic 6-0 start to the season has quickly silenced the doubters of the Houston Rockets, who were expected to experience a drop-off this season after losing Chandler Parsons in the offseason. Not only have the Rockets won, they’ve won convincingly. They became just the second team in NBA history to start 6-0 with all six wins by double-digits. The Rockets are 5-1 against the spread.
As expected, Houston’s All-NBA duo of James Harden and Dwight Howard has led the way. Harden is averaging 26 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, and Howard is averaging 20 points and 11.5 rebounds. Meanwhile, Trevor Ariza has done his best to fill the void left by Parsons on the wing. He’s averaging 16 points and is hitting close to four three-pointers per game.
With point guard Patrick Beverley hampered by his hamstring, Harden has been thriving as the team’s primary playmaker. His ability to get to the rim is getting him his share of points, but he’s also finding the team’s many long-range marksmen – Ariza, Jason Terry, Isaiah Canaan and Troy Daniels – for decent looks from the perimeter. The Rockets are currently first in threes made (14.2), attempted (32.2) and three-point percentage (44%) this season.
Harden’s defensive shortcomings are well-documented, but the arrival of an excellent perimeter defender in Ariza means Harden likely won’t be stuck chasing Thompson around on defense. On the whole, the Rockets have been surprisingly great on defense. They have yet to allow any opponent to score over 93 points, and are in the top five in Defensive Efficiency.
The total has gone under in all of the Rocket’s six games.
Writer’s Prediction
The Warriors’ superior individual defenders step up to silence the Rockets’ stars, while the Splash Brothers seal the deal on offense. Take Golden to cover on the road.
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