The set-up: While first the Cavs and now the Warriors have made short work (four-game sweeps) of their respective second round series, the other two series are both tied at two-all. Both the second-seeded Spurs and third seeded Rockets in the West and the top-seeded Celtics and fourth-seeded Wizards have turned their series into a best-of-3 situation. While the Bos/Was series has seen the home team go 4-0 SU & ATS, this SA/Hou series has seen each team win a game on the others home court with each home team also owning a blowout home victory.

Houston: The Rockets drained 19 three-pointers in their Game 4 victory, turning a close game into a 125-104 rout by scoring 68 second-half points! "This is a big stage they did it on," Houston head coach Mike D'Antoni told reporters. "We have a lot of work left, but there's no reason why we can't go down to San Antonio and repeat the performance." The Rockets did just that in Game 1, making 22 three-points (on a record 50 attempts!) in a 126-99 road win. However, Houston suffered a huge blow in Game 4, as backup center Nene suffered a torn left groin and will miss the rest of the playoffs. Nene and starter Clint Capela were giving Houston solid production in the middle and the Rockets will be forced to use power forwards Montrezl Harrell and Ryan Anderson at center. The good news for Houston is that after averaging just 16.5 PPG over the first two games of this series, MVP-candidate James Harden has averaged 35.5 points over the last two contests.

San Antonio: The Spurs must now "turn the page" after missing (in a big way) an opportunity to come back to San Antonio up 3-1. The point guard situation is a huge issue (problem?), after the season-ending quadriceps injury to Tony Parker in Game 2. Rookie Dejounte Murray started the past two games and averaged five points and 1.3 assists while backup Patty Mills averaged 12.5 points and 3.5 assists but made just 8-of-21 FG attempts. Star SF Kawhi Leonard scored just 16 points in Game 4 after averaging 27 over the first three games plus PF LaMarcus Aldridge is enduring a mostly quiet series (and postseason), save for his 26-point outburst in Game 3 (on 12 of 20 shooting). Pau Gasol, a two-time NBA champions while with the Lakers, has also been a non-factor, averaging just eight points in the series with just one double-digit effort in four games.

The pick: The Rockets looked lost in Game 2 on the road and Game 3 at home, but played a complete game on Sunday. Harden scored 28 points and handed out 12 assists in the win but maybe even more importantly, the Houston bench stepped up, getting 22 points from guards Eric Gordon and 13 from Lou Williams, after the entire reserve unit scored just 10 points in its Game 3 loss. Bottom line in this series just may be that Houston is the better team. However, since moving to the AT&T Center in 2002, the Spurs are 81-28 (.743) in home playoff games, giving them the most such wins by any team in the league during that time span. That said, the Spurs have not been a great home team this season, going 35-11 SU (including the postseason) but just 23-23 ATS. Meanwhile, the Rockets are 27-18 ATS on the road. Take the points and make Houston a 10* play.