Aside from a ridiculous, 41-point performance from James Harden, very little went right for the Houston Rockets in Game 1 against the Golden State Warriors. With that in mind, the good folks in Las Vegas appear to be placing some trust (at least when playing the perception game) in the top-seeded Rockets, as Houston has been installed as a two-point favorite at home against the defending NBA champions.
This comes on the heels of the Rockets entering the opener as small, 1.5-point favorites and, at least from a big-picture standpoint, the betting market is moving as if nothing changed. One could note that Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson may not average 65 points combined in the series and, for the officiating-focused group in the basketball world, the Rockets probably had a legitimate beef on at least one high-profile play in the fourth quarter.
With that said, the Warriors entering any game as the “underdogs” at this point feels almost silly and, after a road win in the opener, Golden State’s stranglehold when it comes to the overall series betting price became even stronger. There is some element of desperation in Game 2 for the Rockets, simply because the series effectively ends with another Golden State win and Games 3 and 4 set to take place in Oakland. Perhaps that will inspire an otherworldly performance from Harden, Chris Paul and company but they’ll need to win outright with some comfort in order to cover the opening Game 2 spread.
