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Basketball Playoff Odds – Warriors Thinking Small – And It’s Working

  • Updated: May 21, 2015
    • Basketball Playoff Odds – Warriors Thinking Small And Its Working

    By Charles Jay

    Things looked a little anxious for the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night as they had a confident and fast-starting Houston Rockets team to deal with. Houston got out of the gate very quickly, which has been a habit for them in the playoffs, and led by 16 points in the second quarter. But then Golden State coach Steve Kerr pushed a couple of buttons in his lineup and came away with what was a very difficult combination for Houston to deal with. He went “small,” meaning that he put 6-7 Draymond Green at the center spot in place of the seven-footer Andrew Bogut, and inserted Shaun Livingston, a 6-7 hybrid shooting guard/small forward, into the game. All of a sudden Golden State had a lot of people about the same size on the floor, and they were able to do switching a lot easier defensively, not to mention adding an element of quickness that was difficult for the Rockets to deal with.

    Now we move on to Game 2, which will take place at the Oracle Arena at 9 PM ET on Thursday. And in the basketball playoff odds that have been posted on this game by the people at BetAnySports, the Warriors are once again double-digit favorites:

    Golden State Warriors -10.5
    Houston Rockets +10.5

    Over 220 points -110
    Under 220 points -110

    Basketball Playoff Odds – Warriors Thinking Small And Its Working

    BetAnySports customers saw the Warriors go on a 21-4 run to end the first half ahead by three points. And when Houston’s Dwight Howard got slowed down with a knee injury, which leaves him listed as questionable for Game 2, things got even better. Without a lot to threaten them in the middle, the Warriors not only were able to create a lot of spacing on the floor, but also had an easier time attacking the basket. They hung with the Rockets in terms of points in the paint and fast-break points, and propelled by Livingston’s second-quarter explosion of 14 points, they got just what they were looking for in terms of freeing up Stephen Curry for just about any shot he wanted to have on the court. Curry wound up with 34 points and Houston does not have a defensive answer for him.

    As they had to play without Howard, the Rockets were unquestionably weakened. But James Harden, the runner-up for the Most Valuable Player award, kept them in the game, along with the exploits of Trevor Ariza, who hit four out of his five three-point attempts. It looked like Golden State was getting ready to run away with the game late in the fourth quarter, as they were up by 11 points with only two minutes and one second left, but Houston eventually cut the lead to two before falling short. The 110-106 final covered the basketball pointspread for the Rockets, but at the same time elevated Golden State to a 44-3 record at home.

    When BetAnySports patrons take a look at what can happen in Thursday’s matchup, a lot depends upon the availability of Howard, who was in a lot of pain and has restricted mobility. But at the same time, they have found out that the combination of Jason Terry and Pablo Prigioni has not been nearly enough to deal with Curry, as the absence of Patrick Beverley, one of the league’s top defenders, has been sorely felt. And the pressure to stop Curry has affected Terry and Prigioni on the offensive end, as they combined for just 11 points. There was no magic from Terrence Jones off the bench either; Jones, who gave way to Josh Smith in the starting lineup, they just two out of his 10 shots, and Houston could really use of energy from him, especially if Howard is out of the lineup or is affected considerably by the sprained knee.

    The small lineup for Golden State was +15 on the plus-minus scale. And now they know that they can create some very serious matchup problems. For Houston, it is time to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to effectively do something they don’t normally like to do, which is to go “small” themselves.

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