The Houston Rockets (64-31 SU, 56-39 ATS) were up by 16 points in the second quarter of Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, and they looked like they were going to roll to a shocking 1-0 series lead. However, when Steve Kerr took the entirely unorthodox method of going incredibly small, he coached his Golden State Warriors (76-17 SU, 52-40-1 ATS) to a big comeback and a 'W'.
SIZE MATTERS FOR WARRIORS
Boy, does it take some fortitude to put Draymond Green at 6-foot-7 up against Dwight Howard at 6-foot-11. However, we give Kerr all the credit in the world for making the switch. All of a sudden, the Warriors were getting tremendous offensive possessions, as the Rockets had to come out and guard on the perimeter with all of their players, including Howard.
The end result was brilliance for Golden State. Not only did the Warriors go on a 25-6 spurt to end the first half to take a 16-point deficit and make it a three-point lead, but they really didn't do anything that phenomenally offensively in doing so. They didn't shoot the ball that much better in that stretch (56.3 percent) than they did for the rest of the game (46.7 percent), but they did snare four offensive rebounds and create six points off of those boards.
On the other end of the court, Howard was called for an offensive foul trying to post up Green, and he turned the ball over three times.
Granted, a lot of the problems which the Rockets had was fighting against the home court edge of the Warriors, but that same problem exists in here in Game 2. Consider this: No one taller than 6-foot-8 played for more than 16 minutes for the Dubs on Tuesday night.
If you see these smaller lineups having success against the Rockets early on in Game 2, don't be afraid to pull the trigger in live betting on the Warriors.
HOWARD INJURY COULD PLAY BIG ROLE
Howard spent much of the second half on the bench with an ice pack on his knee in Game 1. Normally speaking, that isn't a good sign, at least in the short run. Howard is clearly going to be the most physical presence in this series for Houston, and even though he only scored seven points and had 13 boards, this is an impossible series to win for the Rockets if he isn't healthy.
Houston played its version of small ball as well with Howard out of the foul. The fact of the matter is that the team was successful in at least keeping the game close with Josh Smith, Trevor Ariza and Terrence Jones playing a lot of minutes as the biggest man on the court.
Clint Capela though, just doesn't do it for us, and we can't see Kevin McHale letting him play big minutes if Howard doesn't play.
Again, this is a matter of watching, reading what's going on and adjusting in live betting. There's no way that we can really know what Houston's small lineup is going to look like for 48 minutes against a smaller Golden State lineup, but we'll get a lot of clues early on.
Clearly, as we saw in Game 1, in-game adjustments should be advantage to the Warriors. Steve Kerr does a better job of managing situations in-game than any other coach in this league. McHale will get a lot of credit for the way that he got his Rockets back up over the hill against the Clippers, but this is a far different situation, and we don't trust him with it. Kerr could still be the ultimately difference-maker from a live betting standpoint.
BookMaker will have the spread for this Thursday soiree the night before the game. Now you can wager in-game while the action unfolds with BookMaker's live betting option.
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 showdown between the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets will start at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 21, 2015, at Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN.
