Saturday’s tenth NBA Week 7 match is between Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors. The opening tip-off is set to commence at 14:40PM with the game to be played at ORACLE Arena. The home team Golden State Warriors are the favourites for the match. View our preview and teams for the game between Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors.
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When: 14:40 | Saturday 14/12/2013
Where: ORACLE Arena, Oakland, CA
Houston Rockets $2.35 vs Golden State Warriors $1.62 at Sportsbet Australia get a $250 FREE BET on this match
Houston Rockets $2.35 vs Golden State Warriors $1.61 at Luxbet Australia get a $500 FREE BET on this match
Odds Comparison:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
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| Houston Rockets | 2.35 | 2.27 | 2.35 | 2.27 | 2.35 | 2.28 |
| Golden State Warriors | 1.62 | 1.67 | 1.61 | 1.67 | 1.62 | 1.63 |
Teams:
Houston Rockets:
| Num | Player | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Omer Asik | ||||||
| 2 | Patrick Beverley | ||||||
| 10 | Ronnie Brewer | ||||||
| 0 | Aaron Brooks | ||||||
| 1 | Isaiah Canaan | ||||||
| 18 | Omri Casspi | ||||||
| 33 | Robert Covington | ||||||
| 32 | Francisco Garcia | ||||||
| 13 | James Harden | ||||||
| 12 | Dwight Howard | ||||||
| 6 | Terrence Jones | ||||||
| 7 | Jeremy Lin | ||||||
| 20 | Donatas Motiejunas | ||||||
| 25 | Chandler Parsons | ||||||
| 4 | Greg Smith |
Golden State Warriors:
| Num | Player |
|---|---|
| 40 | Harrison Barnes |
| 20 | Kent Bazemore |
| 12 | Andrew Bogut |
| 30 | Stephen Curry |
| 21 | Dewayne Dedmon |
| 0 | Toney Douglas |
| 31 | Festus Ezeli |
| 23 | Draymond Green |
| 9 | Andre Iguodala |
| 1 | Ognjen Kuzmic |
| 10 | David Lee |
| 8 | Nemanja Nedovic |
| 7 | Jermaine O’Neal |
| 5 | Marreese Speights |
| 11 | Klay Thompson |
Preview:
The Golden State Warriors have developed a trend of slow starts, though their explosive offense has bailed them out late.
That wasn’t the case against the Houston Rockets, who bottled them up in a lopsided result last week.
Golden State will look for a quicker start Friday night when it tries to avenge its worst loss of the season against Houston.
The Warriors (13-10) have been outscored by an average of 11.6 points in the first halves of their last five games, scoring just 43.8 per contest in the first two quarters. However, they’re 3-2 in that span, including Wednesday’s 95-93 home win over Dallas. They trailed by as many as 18 late in the second quarter before Steph Curry took over late. He scored 16 of his 33 points in the final period, including the go-ahead jumper with three seconds remaining.
“He’s a great player and an all-time great shooter,” coach Mark Jackson said of Curry, who also had 10 assists. “I’ve seen Steph Curry every single day take that shot hundreds and hundreds of times, thousands of times, so when the curtains open up you expect it to go in.”
Golden State, which is 7-2 at home, hasn’t always been able to recover from its early deficits, however. The Warriors trailed 61-37 at halftime of their 105-83 defeat at Houston on Dec. 6, their 18th loss in the last 21 meetings.
Jackson’s club shot a season-low 35.5 percent from the field while the Rockets blocked nine shots and had a season-high 14 steals. Curry scored 22 but was 5 of 14 from the field and accounted for eight of his team’s 22 turnovers.
“We have to stop,” forward Draymond Green said. “We can’t continue to get behind like that and continue to try and come back and win.”
The Rockets (15-8) won’t be fresh after dropping their second straight road game, 111-104 in Portland on Thursday. However, they’re 4-1 on the second night of back-to-backs this season.
They were without coach Kevin McHale, who has left the team to mourn the death of his mother after she passed away on Tuesday. Assistant Kelvin Sampson will guide the team for the second straight game.
Dwight Howard finished with 32 points – one shy of his season high – and 17 rebounds, but Houston gave up a 52-48 rebounding advantage and allowed 15 offensive rebounds for the second straight contest. It marked just the fifth time the Rockets – who own the league’s best rebounding margin at plus-6.3 – have been outrebounded.
“They made some big plays down the stretch,” Howard said. “It seemed like every time we would close the gap, they came down and got a great shot. This was big for them.”
Houston’s second-leading rebounder, Omer Asik (6.8 rpg), missed his fourth straight contest with a bruised right thigh.
James Harden, who scored 34 points on 13-of-22 shooting in last week’s win, is averaging 28.0 points over his last six contests. Howard had 22 points and 18 rebounds against the Warriors.
Andre Iguodala is expected to miss his 11th straight game for Golden State due to a strained left hamstring. Jermaine O’Neal is scheduled to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right wrist Friday that may be season-ending.
Source: www.nba.com
