The Houston Rockets hope to salvage a road split of the first two games in their second-round playoff series when they visit the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night in the 2019 NBA Playoffs. Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is set for 10:30 p.m. ET from Oracle Arena. The top-seeded Warriors emerged with a 104-100 win in Game 1 in a contest marked by discontent with the officiating on both sides. The fourth-seeded Rockets trailed most of the way, but pulled within a possession in the final seconds. James Harden missed a tightly contested 3-pointer with time winding down that would have tied the game, and Chris Paul was ejected for arguing a non-foul call against Draymond Green. For Game 2, the Warriors are five-point sportsbook favorites while the over-under for total points scored has climbed to 221 from an opener of 220 in the latest Warriors vs. Rocket odds. Before you lock in your Warriors vs. Rockets picks, check out the NBA Playoffs 2019 predictions from the SportsLine Projection Model.
The model, which simulates every game 10,000 times, is crushing its NBA picks. It entered Week 28 of the 2018-19 NBA season with a sterling record on its top-rated picks, returning more than $3,100 in profit to anybody following them. And it has been particularly red-hot on its A-rated NBA money line picks, entering Week 28 on a strong 85-60 run. Anybody who has followed it is way up.
Now, the model has zeroed in on Game 2 of Warriors vs. Rockets. We can tell you the model is leaning over, and it also says one side hits against the spread more than 50 percent of the time. That selection is only available at SportsLine.
The model has taken into account that the Warriors will be motivated to protect their home-court advantage against a Houston club that has proven it can win in Oakland. The Rockets took a game at Oracle Arena in last year’s playoffs and won twice there during the regular season.
Durant led the way in Game 1 as fellow stars Steph Curry and Klay Thompson battled through lingering ankle soreness. All five starters hit double-figures and veteran Andre Iguodala, the MVP of the 2015 NBA Finals, provided a spark with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting with four rebounds. Golden State shot 50.7 percent from the field and held a 52-39 rebounding edge.
Still, Golden State is far from a lock to cover the Warriors vs. Rockets spread in the 2019 NBA Playoffs against a Houston team that came up just a couple plays short of stealing the series-opener.
The Rockets can take some encouragement from the fact they battled to the wire in Game 1 despite getting meager production from their front court. Veteran forward PJ Tucker was held scoreless and had just three rebounds in 39 minutes. Center Clint Capela, who averages 16.6 points and 12.7 rebounds, finished with four points and six boards in 27 minutes.
Houston also will benefit from the probable return of reserve guard Austin Rivers, who missed Game 1 because of an illness. Rivers is likely its best perimeter defender and has a history of strong performances against Golden State. He had 18 points and four assists in the Rockets’ 135-134 overtime win against the Warriors at Oracle in January.
Who wins Game 2 of Rockets vs. Warriors? And which side of the spread hits more than 50 percent of the time? Visit SportsLine now to find out which side of the Rockets vs. Warriors spread you should be all over Tuesday, all from the model that’s up more than $3,100 on top-rated NBA picks this season.