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Are the Rockets a Safe NBA Betting Pick to Win the 2018 Championship?
“We just have to make better adjustments and do things we should’ve done…” – @TheofficialEG10 pic.twitter.com/Q4N7a8SxVJ
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) 15 de mayo de 2018
Are the Warriors a Safe Betting Pick to Win the 2018 Championship?
The Numbers
I know that Houston won the top seed in the Western Conference and that they beat the defending champion warriors twice in three regular-season meetings, but things have changed a lot since the start of the playoffs people – and mostly, not with the Rockets. Houston still has this season’s MVP playing at a high level in superstar shooting guard James Harden and they’ve still got a future Hall of Fame point guard playing at a high level in Chris Paul. The Rockets can score the ball as well as any team in the game today, seeing as how they ranked second in scoring by putting up 112.4 points per game. Houston also has a very good young big man in Clint Capela and a bevy of veteran shooters in guys like Trevor Ariza, Eric Gordon, and Ryan Anderson among others. Unfortunately, there are some things the Rockets don’t have and these are the things that I believe will hinder them in their efforts to win this season’s NBA Championship. First and foremost, Houston doesn’t shoot the ball as well as you’d expect for a team that averages so many points per game. The Rockets rank a modest 15th in field goal shooting percentage (46.0%), 14th in three-point shooting (36.2%) and ninth in free throw shooting percentage (78.1%). Houston also doesn’t pass the ball very well and relies on a lot of isolation from Harden or Paul to penetrate the lane and then kick the ball to one of their open shooters.Team Rankings
- Average Score For: 2
- Offensive rebounds: 24
- Offensive Field Goal Percentage: 15
- Average Score Against: 7
- Defensive rebounds: 10
- Defensive Field Goal Percentage: 46.25
“Houston, we have a problem”
Defensively, Houston finished the regular season ranked sixth in points allowed (103.9 ppg), but again, this number is a bit deceiving seeing as how they ranked just 16th in field goal shooting defense (46.2%). The biggest reason the Rockets are not a legitimate ‘sure pick’ to win this season’s NBA Championship is that they’re almost assuredly not getting past Golden State in the Western Conference Finals.
Houston’s problems were magnified in their 119-106 game 1 home loss as Harden went off for 41 points and Chris Paul added 23, but no one else on the Rockets did much of anything in combining for just 43 points.
Houston could probably beat any other team in the league, but all roads to the finals will be going through Golden State, so sorry, it’s not gonna’ happen for Houston this season, no matter what the NBA Betting Odds might say.
Last 10 NBA Champions
- 2017: Golden State Warriors
- 2016: Cleveland Cavaliers
- 2015: Golden State Warriors
- 2014: San Antonio Spurs
- 2013: Miami Heat
- 2012: Miami Heat
- 2011: Dallas Mavericks
- 2010: Los Angeles Lakers
- 2009: Los Angeles Lakers
- 2008: Boston Celtics
