NBA Playoffs picks, odds, how to watch info for Warriors-Rockets Game 7, Pacers-Cavs Game 1

The first round of the NBA Playoffs comes to a conclusion on Sunday and it’s a doozy. The Houston Rockets host the Golden State Warriors in Game 7. That game will actually come after the second round starts with the opening game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Indiana Pacers.

Here’s a look at picks from our staff, odds for the games and how to watch both of Sunday’s games.

Viewing guide for Sunday

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Indiana Pacers at Cleveland Cavaliers Game 1

Series odds: Cavs -500, Pacers +375

Cleveland had no trouble with Miami, but gets a step up in competition for the second round. Still, the Cavs are heavily favored both in Sunday’s Game 1 and the series as a whole.

The Pacers had little trouble in the first round as well, getting by Milwaukee in five games. However, the Bucks only got a little more than two games out of Damian Lillard in that series.

Due to the quick first-round series for both teams, both will also have a fair amount of rest coming in. Indiana finished off Milwaukee on Tuesday. Cleveland last played on Monday, and usage of “played” is liberal considering the Cavs beat Miami by 55 in Game 4 after leading by 26 by the end of the first quarter.

The Cavs won 64 games in the regular season to snag the top seed in the Eastern Conference and it has been almost a foregone conclusion they would at least make it to the conference finals. Cleveland’s true test is expected to await in that round against defending champion Boston or perhaps New York. However, Indiana won three of four meetings in the regular season.

The first two of those meetings came in back-to-back games in January with the Pacers winning by 15 on the road before the Cavs won by 10 in Indianapolis. The two more recent meetings come with an asterisk. The Pacers won by two on April 10 with the Cavs resting their stars. Three days later they met in the regular season finale and neither team played its best players.

Sunday’s Game 1 will look a lot different than those late-season meetings.

Expert picks

Golden State Warriors at Houston Rockets Game 7

Series tied 3-3

Uh oh, Golden State has blown another 3-1 lead. The Warriors took the series opener in Houston and then held serve at home to build that lead, but the last two games haven’t been all that pretty.

Houston’s win in San Francisco on Friday forced this Game 7 and, while the game was close until the fourth quarter, Golden State didn’t hold a lead after the first quarter. Jimmy Butler has had two off games in a row, shooting 2-for-10 from the field in Game 5 before going 1-for-6 from 3-point land in Game 6. The Warriors will need Playoff Jimmy to make an appearance in a road Game 7.

Golden State also needs Stephen Curry to improve upon the 13-for-35 he has shot from the field over the last two games.

Houston, which enters Sunday as the favorite, has seen Fred VanVleet suddenly surge in what has been an otherwise mostly disappointing season from the veteran of this young Rockets team. VanVleet, who posted his lowest scoring average (14.1) in six seasons, averaged 11.3 points per game over the first three games of the series. Since then, he has scored at least 25 points in every game while shooting above 50 percent from the field and has made two-thirds of his 3-point attempts in each of those games.

If VanVleet goes off again, it will be difficult for Golden State, but can he keep this up? It also seems unlikely both Curry and Butler will continue to struggle. Will Curry go off like he did in the gold medal game of the Olympics last summer? Will Playoff Jimmy take over? If not, it could mean it’s time for the Warriors to go fishin’.

Expert picks

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(Photo of Fred VanVleet and Stephen Curry: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)

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