Houston Rockets vs. Golden State Warriors: Game 1 Odds Preview, Matchup Stats

The NBA's Western Conference Finals will tip off Tuesday in Oakland with the conference's top two seeds squaring off against each other, although it did not appear that would be the case a week ago.

The second-seeded Houston Rockets overcame a 3-1 series deficit in the second round against the Los Angeles Clippers to advance, and now they will visit the top-seeded Golden State Warriors as 10-point road underdogs after losing all four regular-season meetings.

Golden State remains the betting favorite on the odds to win the NBA championship at 4-7, with Houston the lowest of the four remaining teams on those betting lines at 10-1.

The Rockets have actually lost the last five meetings with the Warriors dating back to the 2013-14 regular season, and Houston failed to cover the spread in all five contests. The last two games between the teams were played within five days back in January and ended in blowouts, with Golden State winning by an average margin of 19 points.

The total went over in both those games after finishing under in the previous three meetings.

Both teams have won their last three games of the playoffs by double digits heading into their Game 1 betting matchup after each trailed in their respective series. Houston was an underdog in Games 5, 6 and 7 against the Clippers, yet still emerged victorious each time after losing three of the first four games.

Sunday’s 113-100 win over Los Angeles as two-point home dogs ended a string of six straight games that went over the total for the Rockets.

Meanwhile, the Warriors had seen the total go under in six consecutive games before knocking out the Memphis Grizzlies 108-95 last Friday as five-point road favorites in Game 6. Golden State posted its highest point total of the series after scoring 101 or less in the previous five games.

The Warriors were the highest-scoring team in the NBA during the regular season with 110 points per game, and they have reached that number only once in the playoffs, requiring overtime for a 123-119 victory against the New Orleans Pelicans in Game 3 of the first round.

Golden State has covered three in a row in the playoffs after failing to beat the number in eight of their previous 10 games, according to the Odds Shark NBA Database.