Jalen Green is off to a hot start. Can he lead the Houston Rockets into an upset over the defending Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks?
Catch the game tomorrow at 8:30 AM, Manila time.
AWAY: Houston Rockets (2-2, 1-1 AWAY)
Projected starting five:
- Fred VanVleet
- Jalen Green
- Dillon Brooks
- Jabari Smith Jr.
- Alperen Sengun
The Rockets have split their first four games. They are averaging 111.7 points per game while allowing 107 points on the other end. While defense has been good (3rd in points allowed and 6th in defensive rating), a classic from an Ime Udoka team, much of it is being cancelled out by their terrible 40.7% shooting, which ranks 29th in the league.
Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun remain as the two main men in the team, with the former having 28.8 PPG thus far and the latter filling the statsheet with 14.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.0 assists. Fred VanVleet (14.8 PPG, 6.3 APG) is also somewhere in there as the veteran and starting point guard. You just hope they can shoot better as Sengun and VanVleet are currently at 38.6% and 34.0%, respectively. Both have to be particularly careful as the Mavs can easily scheme for them to keep taking shots with those percentages.
Dillon Brooks, Jabari Smith Jr., Amen Thompson, and Cam Whitmore are contributors as well, but all are trying to weave their way around the Green, Sengun, and VanVleet centered attack.
The Rockets went 1-3 vs. the Mavericks last season, and one of those losses was when they got their crucial 13-game winning streak busted.
HOME: Dallas Mavericks (3-1, 2-0 HOME)
Projected starting five:
- Kyrie Irving
- Luka Doncic
- Klay Thompson
- PJ Washington
- Daniel Gafford
The Mavericks will come in gunning for a third-straight win. They had an entertaining matchup with their Western Conference Finals opponents Minnesota Timberwolves this past Wednesday, as they survived Anthony Edwards’s early-game onslaught (6 threes, 24 pts in the 1Q), and won, 120-114. Dallas is averaging 113.0 PPG and surrendering 109.8 on the other end across four games.
As per usual, Luka Doncic is headlining the offense with 26.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game, but while it’s good, he’s only at a 36.4% clip (26.8% from three). We may see something worse considering how feisty the Rockets defense is, although it can also be counterintuitive, and that he may just be super motivated to unload one bucket after another.
Kyrie Irving is producing his standard numbers (23.8 PPG, 5.3 APG, 47.4 FG%), and he’ll remain as the Robin to Luka’s Batman. New Maverick Klay Thompson is Robin lite as he has found some groove – before his quiet seven points vs. MIN, he had 22, 19, and 18 in the three prior games, with 15 combined threes.
PICKS:
Spread: Mavericks (-6)
Over/Under: Over (227)
