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The 2015 NBA playoffs got a little nastier on Sunday night, as Al Horford got tossed and the Atlanta Hawks couldn’t overcome the loss of their big man in an intense 114-111 OT thriller. LeBron James went nuts with 37 points, 18 rebounds and 13 dimes as he willed the Cavs to within one game of this year’s NBA Finals. Anyone conducting NBA betting may have been a little annoying by the refs impacting the game, and they surely aren’t alone. That being said, if you followed along with our NBA picks to close out the weekend, you nailed the Hawks ATS and the Cavs as the straight up pick.
Tonight we have the Western Conference Finals possibly coming to a close when the Golden State Warriors go into Houston to hand the Rockets a 4-0 sweep. That is certainly something we should all deem possible – if not likely – given the Warriors’ commaning 3-0 lead and how the Rockets took a dive in a horrifying 35-point blowout loss in game three. Let’s take a closer look at this matchup and see if the Rockets can avoid the broom.
Golden State Warriors (1) @ Houston Rockets (2) on ESPN at 9:00 pm ET
The Rockets have lost in three awful ways so far in this series. They’ve lost trying to run with the Warriors, they’ve lost a borderline defensive battle that came down to the final possession and they’ve lost getting absolutely smoked. Houston has shown they have the talent to play at Golden State’s level, but we’ve yet to see them execute when it matters most. Part of you wants to cheer for that Rockets team that showed up and went on a 3-0 run against the Clippers, but the other half of you knows these Warriors aren’t like L.A. when it comes to closing out and mental toughness.
Houston has really dug itself a hole here tonight, and it’s highly likely the Warriors fill in the dirt and leave them for dead. The most obvious threat – Stephen Curry – has managed to tear Houston’s defense apart each game thus far, as he’s put up 33, 34 and 40-point barages. Even if the Rockets find a way to finally slow him down even for this one game, the Rockets would still have to worry about the rest of the Warriors. Golden State isn’t an insane favorite tonight (-4.5) but enough to take both ATS and straight up. If Houston was going to do anything in this series, they probably would have made more noise the other night. It looks like they very well could go quietly into the night.
Pick: Warriors 104, Rockets 99
