The next victims on Golden State’s chopping block are the Houston Rockets, who are visiting dreadful Oracle Arena for the first time this season. Can the Rockets pull off the major road upset over the league’s best team? Let’s find out more about this Tuesday night showdown below.
Afterwards, check out our previews for San Antonio vs. Miami and Washington vs. New York to be on top of all the other compelling NBA matchups that same evening.
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Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors Preview
Where: Oracle Arena, Oakland
When: Tuesday, February 9, 10:30 PM ET
Line: Houston Rockets at Golden State Warriors – view all NBA lines
Betting on the Houston Rockets (27-26)
The team shot a season-low 32.5 percent from the field against the Blazers that night, and that simply cannot do for a high-scoring team like Houston. James Harden, who scored 33 points (15 from the charity stripe) and surrendered 10 turnovers that game, needs to get his other teammates involved and not carry the load entirely by himself.
Then again, Kevin Durant – a known prolific scorer – just put up 40 points against Golden State on Saturday and his team hung in with the Warriors down the stretch. Harden is very much capable of doing exactly what KD did, but he shouldn’t replicate his last dismal outing against the Dubs in Oracle. In Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals last season, the bearded one committed a record 12 turnovers and shot just 2-of-11 from the floor.
That crucial defeat was one of many that Houston has suffered in impenetrable Oracle Arena of late. In fact, the Rockets have lost 11 of their last 12 meetings (3-9 ATS) in that building. And considering that the Warriors have a 42-game win streak on their home court, it’s more likely that the Rockets will suffer the same sad fate in Oakland that most if not all of the other NBA teams had.
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Betting on the Golden State Warriors (46-4)
The shots from downtown weren’t going in for the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, but they still managed to pull away with the 116-108 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder to stay unbeaten at home this season.
Stephen Curry has a solid line of 26 points and 10 assists for the game, but only made one of nine attempts from the 3-point line that night. What did work highly in favor of Golden State, however, was how the team’s reserves outshined those of OKC’s.
The Warriors bench outscored the Thunder’s 42-17 on Saturday, and they’re depth meant all the difference towards the team finishing with a solid 49.5-percent clip field goal shooting. In contrast, the Rockets’ reserves scored just a total of 12 points on Saturday against the Blazers, with just three of their six bench players that saw minutes on the floor managing to hit a bucket.
What the Dubs have to do on Tuesday night is contain Houston from getting hot beyond the arc. Surprisingly, Houston is averaging one more 3-point attempt (31.3 per game) than Golden State (30.2). The difference, though, is that the Warriors are hitting 42.7 percent of their shots from deep, while the Rockets are just 35.1 percent from that area.
Nevertheless, Oracle Arena should prove to be the team’s safe haven again from Houston’s possible scoring barrage. Golden State has not lost to the Rockets at home since the 2013 season – a six-game span including a couple of playoff games from last season. The Warriors also had a respectable 4-2 record against the spread during that same stretch.
Writer’s Prediction
The Warriors dismantle the Rockets with ease, 129-103.
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