PREMIUM
Stephen Nover's NBA Game of the Week
(NBA) Houston vs. San Antonio,
Total: 214.50 | -110.00 Under
Result: Win
Total: 214.50 | -110.00 Under
Result: Win
Houston was the second-leading scoring team in the NBA during the regular season averaging 115.3 points per game. The Rockets got back on track offensively in beating the Spurs, 125-104, this past Sunday at home in evening the series at 2-2. The bad news for Houston was losing Nene for the rest of the playoffs after he suffered a torn adductor.
One of the keys to today's Game 5 is figuring out the ramifications of Nene's absence. I believe it's one of several factors that point to this total going Over.
Ryan Anderson is going to get most of Nene's minutes now at center. Anderson isn't a center. He's far more of an outside shooter - and a good one - than an interior player. Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni is making no secret that he's going to try to win this series by playing up-tempo, small ball conceeding the Spurs a big inside advantage. D'Antoni wants to win by using his team's strength, which is firing up 3-pointers with as many great shooters as he can put on the court. If James Harden and Eric Gordon are forced to cover San Antonio big men, LaMarcus Aldridge and Paul Gasol, so be it.
"We can keep scoring with them," D'Antoni was quoted as saying following Nene's injury. "And if they get a little flurry, we get one. They had trouble stopping us on the other other."
This is what Anderson was quoted as saying, "The more fast-paced tempo we have the better."
So the Rockets aren't going to adjust. They are going to play their style. Houston hit 19 of 43 3-pointers during Sunday's Game 4 for 44 percent. Cleveland led the NBA in 3-point percentage at 43.4 percent. The Rockets made just 12 of 39 3-pointers in Game 3 for 30.7 percent. However, the Rockets were just cold in that game as they missed on 19 of 24 3-pointers in which they had an open look at the basket.
Houston is going to get its points from beyond the arc. Harden is going to do his thing. But the Spurs also are going to get plenty of points, too, because of their inside dominance.
San Antonio shot 64 percent from the floor during the last two quarters of Game 3. The Spurs shot 49.4 percent from the field in Game 4. They only produced 104 points in that game because they missed nine of 18 free throws. The Spurs ranked seventh in free throw percentage during the regular season at 79.7 percent.
Bottom line here is that D'Antoni knows the Spurs are going to give up plenty of points in the paint against his smaller team especially with Nene out. He doesn't care. His approach is ride his team's strength of shooting 3-pointers in the belief that more 3's outweigh two-point field goals. That's D'Antoni's style and it certainly is condusive to an Over happening.
The Spurs have gone above the total in 10 of their last 12 games, including 8-2 in the playoffs. Only once has the under cashed during the past eight meetings between the two teams in San Antonio.
One of the keys to today's Game 5 is figuring out the ramifications of Nene's absence. I believe it's one of several factors that point to this total going Over.
Ryan Anderson is going to get most of Nene's minutes now at center. Anderson isn't a center. He's far more of an outside shooter - and a good one - than an interior player. Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni is making no secret that he's going to try to win this series by playing up-tempo, small ball conceeding the Spurs a big inside advantage. D'Antoni wants to win by using his team's strength, which is firing up 3-pointers with as many great shooters as he can put on the court. If James Harden and Eric Gordon are forced to cover San Antonio big men, LaMarcus Aldridge and Paul Gasol, so be it.
"We can keep scoring with them," D'Antoni was quoted as saying following Nene's injury. "And if they get a little flurry, we get one. They had trouble stopping us on the other other."
This is what Anderson was quoted as saying, "The more fast-paced tempo we have the better."
So the Rockets aren't going to adjust. They are going to play their style. Houston hit 19 of 43 3-pointers during Sunday's Game 4 for 44 percent. Cleveland led the NBA in 3-point percentage at 43.4 percent. The Rockets made just 12 of 39 3-pointers in Game 3 for 30.7 percent. However, the Rockets were just cold in that game as they missed on 19 of 24 3-pointers in which they had an open look at the basket.
Houston is going to get its points from beyond the arc. Harden is going to do his thing. But the Spurs also are going to get plenty of points, too, because of their inside dominance.
San Antonio shot 64 percent from the floor during the last two quarters of Game 3. The Spurs shot 49.4 percent from the field in Game 4. They only produced 104 points in that game because they missed nine of 18 free throws. The Spurs ranked seventh in free throw percentage during the regular season at 79.7 percent.
Bottom line here is that D'Antoni knows the Spurs are going to give up plenty of points in the paint against his smaller team especially with Nene out. He doesn't care. His approach is ride his team's strength of shooting 3-pointers in the belief that more 3's outweigh two-point field goals. That's D'Antoni's style and it certainly is condusive to an Over happening.
The Spurs have gone above the total in 10 of their last 12 games, including 8-2 in the playoffs. Only once has the under cashed during the past eight meetings between the two teams in San Antonio.
