The Houston Rockets rode a 38-point game from guard Jalen Green to a massive Game 2 win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night, evening the first-round series between the squads.
Golden State is favored at home in Game 3, but there is a lot up in the air with Jimmy Butler dealing with a pelvic contusion. Butler suffered the injury after he was undercut on a rebound attempt in the first half of Game 2.
He did not return to the game, and is now listed as … for Game 3 in Golden State.
The Warriors struggled to get much going on offense without Butler, and the Rockets have kept them in check, holding them under 100 points in all but one meeting this season (they’ve played seven times counting the playoffs).
Can Houston’s young core sustain the play it had in Game 2 on the road?
Let’s take a look at the odds, players to watch in the prop market and my prediction for Game 3.
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
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Moneyline
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Rockets Injury Report
Warriors Injury Report
Houston Rockets Best NBA Prop Bet
The Rockets have dominated the small-ball Warriors on the glass in this series, and Sengun finished with a whopping 16 rebounds in Game 2.
During the regular season, the All-Star big man averaged 10.3 rebounds per game, so we’re simply asking him to hit his season average in this prop.
With neither team lighting things up on offense in this series, Sengun should have plenty of chances to pull down boards. He’s picked up 10+ boards in five of his seven matchups with Golden State this season.
The UNDER is 2-0 in this series, and this total has gone from 212.5 to 204 to 203 as a result.
With Butler banged up, the Warriors’ offense isn’t nearly as easy to trust, especially since Golden State has scored less than 100 points in six straight matchups against Houston.
These teams have not cleared 203 points in each of their last six meetings, landing on exactly 203 points on two occasions – including Game 2 of this series.
Houston’s offense was buoyed by a huge scoring game from Green, but let’s not forget that he shot terribly in Game 1 and scored just seven points. That is the Jalen Green experience in a nutshell.
Golden State has the No. 1 defensive rating in the NBA since trading for Butler, and I expect the Warriors to pick things up on that end at home in Game 3.
Another slug fest is coming, let’s take the UNDER.
Pick: UNDER 203 (-110 at DraftKings)
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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Find Peter Dewey’s NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on BetStamp here.
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