NBA Playoffs 2018: TV Schedule, Dates and Odds for Warriors vs. Rockets Game 7
LeBron James posted one of the best Game 7 performances in NBA history on Sunday as his 35-point, 15-rebound, nine-assist night led the Cleveland Cavaliers to an 87-79 victory over the Boston Celtics. He will now enter the NBA Finals for the eighth consecutive year and ninth overall.
Now the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors will face off for the right to face the Cavs in the NBA Finals. Their Western Conference final series is knotted at three games apiece.
Here's a look at the television schedule, the latest odds and what to watch for the deciding game.
TV Schedule and Date
Houston will host Golden State on Monday at 9 p.m. ET at the Toyota Center. TNT will televise the game, with the pre-game show beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Inside the NBA will air following Game 7.
Odds
Per OddsShark, Golden State is a six-point favorite over Houston, with an over/under total of 208 points. The line initially opened with a five-point spread before moving a half-point in favor of the Warriors.
What To Watch: Game 7
Status of Chris Paul
Rockets point guard Chris Paul suffered a right hamstring strain late in Game 5 and was forced to miss Game 6. His status for Game 7 is in doubt, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle also provided some more insight:
Without Paul for Game 6, Eric Gordon moved into the starting lineup, Gerald Green received more minutes as the team's sixth man and Luc Mbah a Moute returned to the rotation as its seventh and final player.
The team struggled without its best playmaker and defender in the lineup, most notably dishing only 13 assists compared to the Warriors' 26.
If Paul can't go for Game 7, then it's hard to see a path to victory for the Rockets barring the Warriors going ice cold from beyond the arc as a team.
The Dubs have a trio of starters (Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson) who shoot 41.9 percent or better from beyond the arc, while no one in the Rockets' rotation (minus Paul) hit more than 37.1 percent of their threes during the regular season. They are hard to defend and even harder to go bucket-for-bucket with for 48 minutes.
Status of Andre Iguodala
Warriors guard/forward Andre Iguodala has missed the last three games due to a left lateral leg contusion, and his availbility for Game 7 is not known at this time.
Head coach Steve Kerr provided the following update, per Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle:
Iguodala does a little of everything for the Warriors. He's capable of bringing up the ball (as he did when Curry was out with a knee injury for the first half of the playoffs) and defending guards and forwards. For the postseason, the veteran has averaged 7.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
The Warriors struggled without him in Games 4 and Game 5, losing both by a combined seven points. However, without Paul on the floor in Game 6, the Warriors dominated in Oracle Arena to the tune of a 115-86 win.
While the Warriors are certainly better off with Iguodala on the floor, they are the clear favorites against Houston even without him due to the potential absence of Paul.
The Turnover Battle
Part of the reason why Houston's 17-point first-quarter lead became a 29-point loss on Saturday was due to the turnover battle: Golden State only committed 12 on the night, while Houston turned the ball over 21 times.
Head coach Mike D'Antoni cited them as the major Game 6 problem, per Feigen:
"I think the turnovers were the biggest problem. Probably didn't get in transition as much because they were scoring and (the Rockets were) walking it up every time. First half they were missing...so that's a big difference. Kind of goes hand in hand between getting good offense and having the stops. We've got to get back, get the stops, not turn it over, and take care of business."
It doesn't seem like a coincidence that Houston's turnover number ballooned with Paul off the floor. The Rockets averaged 15 turnovers per game over the first five contests of the series before that number jumped to 21 for Game 6.
Simply put, the Rockets can't turn the ball over nearly as much in Game 7 if they are to win this game. Turnovers can lead to easy fast-break buckets for a Warriors team that usually operates at a breakneck pace. They can also kill a home crowd and stymie any momentum gathered over the previous few possessions.
The Splash Brothers
Per StatMuse, Warriors guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson outscored the Rockets by themselves in the second half of Game 6:
Curry, Thompson and Durant have seemingly taken turns leading the team's offensive efforts in this series, symbolizing how impossible the Warriors are to take down in a seven-game set.
KD led the way in Games 1 and 2 with 75 combined points but has been cold every since, making just 39 percent of his field-goal attempts.
However, Curry's shot started falling more often after Game 2, and he's averaged 28.5 points in his last four games, including a team-high 35 in a Game 3 victory. Thompson led the team with 35 of his own in Game 6 thanks in part to nine three-pointers.
Ultimately, the Rockets need to hit a ton of three-pointers and avoid sloppy turnovers if they are to complete with the Warriors' top scoring trio, as the game could get out of hand in a hurry.
