The 2016 NBA Playoffs are finally here, and we’ll get to witness the Golden State Warriors do battle with the Houston Rockets in the postseason for the second-straight year. This time they’ll be going head-to-head in the first round of playoffs, with Golden State hot off the greatest regular season in NBA history, and Houston making it to the big dance by winning its final regular season game.
Who will draw first blood in Game 1 scheduled this Saturday afternoon? Let’s find out more about this blockbuster clash below. For more coverage on the NBA Playoffs’ opening day, check out our previews for Dallas vs. Oklahoma City and Boston vs. Atlanta right after this.
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Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors Game 1 Preview
Where: Oracle Arena, Oakland
When: Saturday, April 16, 3:30 PM ET
Line: Houston Rockets at Golden State Warriors – view all NBA lines
TV Broadcast: ABC
Betting on the Houston Rockets
It had to go down the wire, but the Houston Rockets will take a postseason berth any which way they can, and they did so explosively. The Rockets routed the Sacramento Kings, 116-81, on Wednesday to clinch the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference for their fourth-consecutive trip to the playoffs.
However, Houston’s emphatic win over Sacramento was pretty much a foregone conclusion even before the game started, as the team knew that the Kings were going to play without their top three stars: DeMarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo and Rudy Gay. Nevertheless, the Rockets reeled off three-straight wins in the end to punch their ticket to the playoffs, and that’s all that really matters.
Then again, Clutch City has been anything but clutch against the Warriors for the past couple of years. Since October of 2014, Houston only managed to beat Golden State once, but at least that was in last year’s Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals.
This year’s Rockets don’t exactly have the same swagger of last season’s squad, though, even if most of their key pieces are still intact. They’re ranked just 21st in the league by giving up 106 points per 100 possessions on defense, and their road record of 18-23 is rather dismal for a playoff “contender”.
That being said, Houston still doesn’t appear to be in good shape in its attempt to topple mighty Golden State four times over in the first round, let alone win the first bout of the series in rowdy Oracle Arena this Saturday.
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Betting on the Golden State Warriors
There were so many amazing feats that the Golden State Warriors accomplished this season that we might as well just crown them as back-to-back NBA champs right now.
On Wednesday, the Warriors demolished the Memphis Grizzlies, 125-104, to ultimately break the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls’ record of 72 regular-season wins with an unparalleled 73-9 record of their own.
Many were afraid that given the one-point nail-biter of a victory over Memphis just four days ago, the Grizz would once again spoil Golden State’s historic run. But alas, who else but soon-to-be two-time MVP Stephen Curry went nuclear again to ensure that the Dubs fulfill their legacy as the best regular season team in NBA history.
Curry erupted for 46 points that evening behind another epic shooting performance from beyond the arc, knocking down 10 three-pointers – seven by halftime – to obliterate his own record for most three’s made in a regular season. Not only did Steph shatter his previous mark of 296, he actually ended with 402(!!!) three-pointers made.
The Warriors haven’t taken their foot off the pedal at all, at it seems as if they’re going to run right over the Rockets in a flash. Yet even though they’ve won nine of the last 10 contests against the Rockets dating back to the 2015 season, the Dubs are just 6-4 ATS during that span.
Writer’s Prediction
Golden State with another dominant showing over Houston, 117-103.
