NBA Playoff Betting – (3) Clippers at (2) Rockets (Game 7)
By Zack Garrison in News
Updated: January 17, 2018 at 9:39 am ESTPublished:
Los Angeles Clippers (-1.5, 220 o/u) at Houston Rockets
After falling behind 3-1, the Houston Rockets (63-30, 35-12 home) have posted two unexpected wins in their Western Conference semifinal series against the Los Angeles Clippers (63-32, 29-18 away) to force a Game 7 at home today.
The Rockets stole Game 6 at the Staples Center in unprecedented fashion, coming back from a 19-point deficit and winning the fourth quarter 40-15 en route to a 119-107 victory; the majority of the epic comeback – which also allowed Houston to cover as 8.5-point dogs – took place with MVP runner-up James Harden sitting on the bench.
The Houston bench brought the team back from the brink of elimination, led by Josh Smith who scored 19 on the night.
“We fought through a lot of adversity,” Smith said to the NBA press. “It’s just a testament of what we did throughout the season.”
For the Clippers, point guard Chris Paul led the way with 31 points and 11 assists while power forward Blake Griffin had 28, but the team missed 15 of their final 16 shots and blew the chance to advance to the Western Conference finals for the first time in franchise history.
“I think there’s probably a plethora of emotions when something like this happens,” coach Doc Rivers said to the Associated Press after the loss. “You know, I felt bad for them, honestly, because they want it so bad, and sometimes you want stuff so bad that you can’t get it because you’re in your own way, and I thought we clearly got in our own way tonight. And again, it’s not because they don’t want it. They do. And they want it so much that we couldn’t think straight. You know, that’s my job. I’ve got to try to get them through it.”
Even after two disastrous games for the Clippers, where the Rockets have won and covered the spread, Los Angeles is favored to win Game 7 on the road (-1.5).
In the betting trends, the Clippers are 4-1 ATS in their last four road games versus teams with a home winning percentage greater than .600, while the Rockets are 3-4 ATS in their last seven after allowing 100 points or more.
Pick: Clippers -1.5.
(Photo credit: 2O (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)
Sports Writer
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
