- The NBA Playoffs continue the action Wednesday with another first-round Game 7 between the Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
- The Rockets come in as 5.5-point favorites after dropping the last game thanks to heroics from Chris Paul.
- With +195 odds, Oklahoma City will need the whole team to show up if they want to get one more win over Houston (-235) and advance.
ORLANDO, Fla – The NBA Playoffs has yet to disappoint in terms of exciting action from the bubble.
Tuesday night saw a thrilling Game 7 between the Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz. Now, spoiled basketball fans will get to enjoy two Game 7’s in the same amount of days.
The Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder will close out their series Wednesday night in one final chapter to decide who gets to stay in Orlando, and who is sent packing.
Betting odds are available for the game across the many online sportsbooks with the Rockets coming in as 5.5-point favorites.
NBA Playoffs – Game 7 – 9:00 p.m. EST:
- ML: Thunder (+195) vs. Rockets (-235)
- Spread:HOU -5.5
- Over/Under: 217 Points
Houston opened this series with two straight wins behind the stellar shooting and leadership of James Harden.
The absence of Russell Westbrook proved meaningless in the early stages of the series as Houston’s small-ball lineup torched OKC from the three-point line.
However, as the Thunder have done all season, they began to claw their way back. Harden’s struggles in Game 3 led to a win for OKC. The Rockets followed that up with a complete bricklaying contest to close out Game 4, resulting in another Thunder win.
The thing about the Rockets’ controversial style of play is that it relies solely on guys other than James Harden making open three-point shots. If guys like P.J. Tucker, Eric Gordon, and Daniel House Jr. go cold on their catch and shoot opportunities then the Rockets don’t stand a chance against any competitive playoff team.
Naturally, the antithesis to this is that when they do make shots, they are nearly unbeatable.
The curious variable in this equation is Russell Westbrook. Westbrook missed the first four games of the series due to injury, only to return in Game 5 and help his team get a win.
In-Game 6 however, the world was exposed to the unfortunately awkward fit that Russell still is on the Rockets. Westbrook is a poor three-point shooter, coming in at .258 percent this season, a career-low. Due to this, the team's best option in defending Russ is to put bodies in front of him to prevent him from attacking at the rim.
The Rockets' entire small-ball scheme works because it forces the slower big men of the other team to defend faster guys on the perimeter who can shoot threes.
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The lineup is at its strongest when all five players are taken seriously as three-point threats, forcing the defense to spread itself thin across the arc.
Westbrook throws a wrench into this strategy. Due to Russell’s bad shooting numbers, teams like OKC don’t have to guard him as tightly on the perimeter. Westbrook taking a three isn’t a concern to the Thunder defense, in fact, they would prefer it.
When Westbrook is on the court, it disrupts Houston’s three-point offense and gives the defense a break. Of course, Westbrook is usually able to make up for this with his uncanny ability to get to the rim or drive and kick.
The explosiveness of @russwest44 is ridiculous!
(via @HoustonRockets) pic.twitter.com/9aY9rhxEtz
— Schillers_Sports_Talk (@SchillersT) September 1, 2020
The Thunder did well in Game 6 to exploit this gap but still needed a heroic effort from Chris Paul to get over the top.
Looking at the basketball betting odds for this game puts bettors in a tough position.
On one hand, if the Rockets are able to hit shots and play their game, a six-point victory is easily obtained. On the other, the Thunder have shown this entire season that they refuse to go down without a fight, and the Rockets have already shown they have the propensity to go cold.
For that reason, bettors should consider the over/under bet for this game. The line currently sits at 217, and three of the six games have gone over that so far.
If last night’s Game 7 showed anything, it’s that the final game of playoff series’ can be extremely low scoring. While the Rockets and Thunder have no plans to miss shots tonight, the under bet could be the play for Wednesday’s game.
Jimmy Reinman honed his skills across various mediums including print, radio, and broadcast before bringing his arsenal of knowledge to the team here at USAOnlineSportsbooks in 2020. When he’s not writing, you can find him in a state of focused stress on any College Football Saturday, or maniacally constructing NBA parlays on a cool spring evening.
