Tim Duncan is battling a knee problem, and we already know that he isn't going to play on Monday against Golden State. His ailing knee is one of the main storylines for live bettors to follow in Wednesday's duel between the San Antonio Spurs and the Houston Rockets.
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SCHEDULING
Both of these teams play on Monday and then have a day off on Tuesday, but not all spots in the schedule are created equally even if the total number of days off is the same.
Teams have historically really struggled with the Warriors of course, but they've also struggled the game after playing against the defending champs, too. That's what San Antonio is faced with in this one, and live bettors must be wary of that fact.
The Rockets have the Pelicans on the road on Monday before heading to San Antonio.
KEY MATCHUP
Though Duncan's injury is notable for sure, LaMarcus Aldridge has been dealing with a back issue, too. Aldridge is expected to give it a go against the Warriors on Monday, but he'll be worth watching as well.
San Antonio should have a big advantage at the power forward position, as Clint Capela is generally weak at that point. However, if the two bigs aren't available or aren't effective for the Spurs, what was once a strength could turn into a weakness. David West would really have to man the fort at that point in the post, and we don't think he's really got the ability to play with Capela and Dwight Howard.
That's why this point guard battle is going to end up being incredibly crucial for live betting purposes. There literally could be 15 points swung one way or the other depending upon whether and how well Aldridge and Duncan play against Capela.
KEY STATS & TRENDS
The Spurs have won 12 straight games since losing to the Rockets back on Christmas Day on the road. They've put at least 99 on the board in each of those games, and they've allowed more than 100 only once during that span. That said, thanks to the fact that these spreads are so darn high on San Antonio, the team is just 8-4 ATS in those games.
Live bettors should know that the Spurs haven't taken their foot off of the gas pedal in the fourth as you might think, though. They're so darn deep as it is that they've won five of their last seven fourth quarters by at least five points.
Houston's offense doesn't have the greatest stats in the world this year. The team is averaging 104.7 points per game, but shooting 44.5 percent from the field and 35.0 percent from distance has to be a concern for live bettors, especially against one of the best defensive teams in the NBA.
However, James Harden has really stepped up his game of late, putting up triple-doubles in two of his last three and scoring 30 points in the sandwich game.
Thus far this year against the Spurs, Harden has one pretty good game and one pretty bad one. In the first meeting, he scored 20 points and had nine assists against just four turnovers. In the second, he had 17 points and three assists against five turnovers.
Needless to say, the first was won by four, while the second was lost by 18.
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