The Golden State Warriors look to end their six-game skid against a Houston Rockets team that has lost two-straight and on the second night of a back-to-back. The Warriors won the first meeting three weeks ago, 106-95.
Catch the game tomorrow at 11:00 AM, Manila time.
AWAY: Houston Rockets (6-5, 0-4 AWAY)
Projected starting five:
- Fred VanVleet
- Jalen Green
- Dillon Brooks
- Jabari Smith Jr.
- Alperen Sengun
After heating up with six-straight wins, the Rockets have simmered down. They have now lost two in a row, both of which were in crunch time. The Ls kept them winless on the road too, which is where they’ll be again tomorrow.
One of the road losses was the aforementioned defeat vs. the Warriors, where four of the starters reached at least 12 points, but the team collectively shot just 37.8% from the floor. The lone starter who didn’t hit double-digit points was Fred VanVleet, as he went a horrid 2-of-13. He should look to be better in this rematch.
Alperen Sengun has shown a ton of improvement and remains as a focal point of the attack. He has been crafty in the paint and now has four-straight games with 20 or more points. He’s in a favorable matchup tomorrow opposite Kevon Looney.
Jalen Green is still that athletic freak, but he’s coming off a terrible performance and has been fairly underwhelming this season, going just 3-of-10 for nine points in their 105-104 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. He should be more assertive tomorrow.
Houston scores 109.3 PPG and gives up 105.7 per game
HOME: Golden State Warriors (6-8, 1-6 HOME)
Projected starting five:
- Stephen Curry
- Chris Paul
- Klay Thompson
- Andrew Wiggins
- Kevon Looney
The Warriors are losers in each of their last six games, a huge step back from their 6-1 start. They are scoring 109.7 PPG on only 41.8% shooting in the skid, while allowing 117.3.
It is worth considering that Stephen Curry missed two games in the current skid. Then again, while he’s at 29.0 PPG in his last four appearances, he’s just making 39.1% of his shots. Klay Thompson isn’t looking like his usual self too as he is just averaging 14.0 PPG on a 40% clip. He hasn’t actually shot better than 38.5% in each of his five previous games. The trend continues with Andrew Wiggins as he is only at 12.0 PPG.
Jonathan Kuminga, meanwhile, will be getting the reps left off by the suspended Draymond Green, who still has to serve three more games. Kuminga has put up 17.0 PPG on 60.9% shooting in his last two. Chris Paul, on the other hand, is starting to get some points on the board. He now has three consecutive games with double-digit scoring, and is coming off a double-double of 12 points and 11 dimes.
The Warriors are dead-even on scoring and giving up points, as they are at the 113.4 mark on both departments.
PREDICTION:
Handicap: The Rockets could have tired legs. The Warriors (-7.5) win and cover.
Over/Under: The total goes over 221.5
