Public bettors were hammered on Tuesday night when the Los Angeles Clippers (63-31 SU, 44-49-1 ATS) were beaten by the Houston Rockets (62-30 SU, 53-39 ATS). You can bet that the public will once again be backing the Clips to finish off this series in Game 6 on Thursday.
THIRD QUARTER FRENZY
Whether you're talking about live betting or second half betting, it should be noted that the third quarter is the quarter that has really taken off in this series, and it makes a lot of sense as to why. The Clippers have generally left most of their starters on the court for the majority of the quarter, and the teams have some legs under them from their halftime talks.
Interestingly enough, this is also the one quarter where hacking DeAndre Jordan doesn't seem to happen, which keeps the flow of the game up at a high level.
So far, the third quarter of the games in this series have totaled 64, 47, 54, 68 and 55 points. Granted, we would need the third to have at least 54 or so in it to stay at the pace for the rest of the game, but seeing these numbers in the 60s is scary.
Furthermore, it has been the Clips who have dominated the third quarter for the most part. They went +10 or better in Games 1, 3 and 4 of this series, and they were +1 in Game 5 on Tuesday night.
Live betting on the Clippers and the over right out of the blocks at halftime seems to be the way to go under just about any circumstance.
LOW FLYING OBJECTS
When the Rockets are flying high, they are a lot of fun to watch. James Harden takes control of the game and is driving to the hoop, he's finding Jason Terry and Trevor Ariza out on the perimeter, Dwight Howard is dominating in the low block, and as a team, Houston is crashing to the glass.
Sure, there are fast-break opportunities that end up stemming from that when the Clippers do get the offensive boards, but that's a tradeoff that Kevin McHale will take.
It's more about the flow of the game than anything else. So if the flow matches what we're talking about here, clearly, the Rockets are good for live betting purposes, especially knowing that they are going to be big underdogs in relation to where the game is at all night long due to the fact that they are +7.5 at the open of this game.
However, when things go wrong for Houston, they really start to go wrong. That's when Howard seems disinterested in battling for position on the block, Harden is doing more standing around and taking wild shots on his own than getting his teammates involved and there's no movement on the perimeter by the other players.
This is when the Clippers really excel, because they haven't had many moments in this series when they weren't truly crisp offensively. The shots might not always be falling, but as long as they are free-flowing and not just walking to the foul line to let Jordan chuck up a couple ducks towards the hoop in hopes of one going in, they're in fine shape.
Remember that LA shot just 41.8 percent in Game 5 and made 25.7 percent from long range. That isn't going to happen again in this game. If the shots are falling at a better clip, the Clippers should be golden in live betting, especially knowing that Houston has a history of hitting the ground hard when it falls from grace.
Once the Rockets are down, they aren't going to get up.
The NBA betting lines for this Thursday game were first available at BookMaker Sportsbook. The Clippers opened up at -7.5, while the total debuted at 219.5. Live wagering during commercials offers adjusted moneylines, totals and spreads. Log in and start gambling during the game now!
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The matchup between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers will go down Thursday, May 14, 2015 at 10:30 p.m. ET at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. The matchup will be televised live on ESPN.
