Utah (0-1) at Houston (1-0)
When: Wednesday, May 2nd 2018
Where: Toyota Center, Houston, TX
Time: 8:05 ET | TV: TNT
Opening Odds: Houston -12.5/206
The Utah Jazz wasted a lot of energy in a grueling seven-game series with the Oklahoma City Thunder and had little left against the Houston Rockets on Sunday, dropping Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series 110-96. James Harden scored a game-high 41 points, and the Rockets shot 53.5% (23-of-43) in the first half of Game 1. Harden connected on 7-of-12 3-point attempts and added eight rebounds and seven assists. After Utah sliced what was once a 27-point deficit to 11 early in the fourth quarter, Harden stopped the bleeding with three free throws, a 3-pointer and a second-chance basket of his own miss. Clint Capela recorded a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds while PJ Tucker chipped in 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting, including 3-of-5 from behind the arc. Chris Paul scored 17, and had six assists and four steals for the Rockets. Rookie Donovan Mitchell and Jae Crowder scored 21 points apiece for a Jazz team that played a Game 7 late Friday night. Joe Ingles added 15 points, six rebounds and five assists while Rudy Gobert totaled 11 points and nine boards but failed to impact the game defensively.
Mitchell is picking up a large portion of the ball-handling with veteran point guard Ricky Rubio (hamstring) sidelined and it seemed to affect his game in the opener. Mitchell’s 21 points came on 9-of-22 shooting and committed four turnovers. The point total was Mitchell’s lowest in seven games this postseason and he was also hampered by a sore ankle, which he insists won’t be a problem in Game 2. It remains unclear how soon Rubio can return in the series.
Harden averaged 34.3 points in four meetings against Utah in the regular season – including a 56-point outing – and the sixth-ranked scoring defense (102.4) once again had no answers on slowing down the MVP candidate. Backup shooting guard Eric Gordon, who averaged 18.0 points in the regular season, missed all six of his shots in Game 1 and is shooting just 31.4% from the field in the postseason. Houston has won all five matchups this season with Utah by double-digits.
It seems like the Jazz have no answers for Houston this season. The Rockets have covered all five meetings and the games haven’t been close. I’d like to say Utah fights back and makes this interesting, but I have to stick with the trend for now.
Pick: Rockets -11
- Jazz are 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games playing on 2 days rest.
- Jazz are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 Wednesday games.
- Jazz are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
- Jazz are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 Conference Semifinals games.
- Jazz are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
- Jazz are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games.
- Jazz are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
- Jazz are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 vs. NBA Southwest.
- Rockets are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 Wednesday games.
- Rockets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
- Rockets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
- Rockets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 vs. Western Conference.
- Rockets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 vs. NBA Northwest.
- Rockets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Rockets are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 Conference Semifinals games.
- Rockets are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games playing on 2 days rest.
- Under is 4-0 in Jazz last 4 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
- Under is 8-0 in Jazz last 8 Wednesday games.
- Under is 4-1 in Jazz last 5 road games.
- Under is 4-1 in Jazz last 5 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
- Under is 4-1 in Jazz last 5 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
- Over is 8-2 in Jazz last 10 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
- Over is 8-3-1 in Jazz last 12 Conference Semifinals games.
- Over is 5-2 in Jazz last 7 games following a straight up loss.
- Over is 25-10 in Jazz last 35 vs. NBA Southwest.
- Over is 5-2 in Jazz last 7 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Under is 12-5 in Jazz last 17 games playing on 2 days rest.
- Over is 7-3 in Jazz last 10 games following a ATS loss.
- Under is 7-3 in Jazz last 10 games following a straight up loss of more than 10 points.
- Under is 13-6 in Jazz last 19 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Under is 6-1 in Rockets last 7 home games vs. a team with a losing road record.
- Under is 5-1 in Rockets last 6 Wednesday games.
- Under is 4-1 in Rockets last 5 games playing on 2 days rest.
- Under is 8-2 in Rockets last 10 games following a straight up win.
- Under is 18-6 in Rockets last 24 home games.
- Under is 27-9 in Rockets last 36 vs. Western Conference.
- Over is 6-2 in Rockets last 8 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
- Under is 16-6 in Rockets last 22 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.
- Under is 18-7 in Rockets last 25 overall.
- Over is 10-4 in Rockets last 14 Conference Semifinals games.
- Under is 7-3 in Rockets last 10 games following a straight up win of more than 10 points.
- Under is 18-8 in Rockets last 26 games following a ATS win.
- Favorite is 5-0 ATS in the last 5 meetings.
- Over is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings in Houston.
- Over is 6-2 in the last 8 meetings.
- Jazz are 2-8 ATS in the last 10 meetings in Houston.
- Jazz are 0-5 ATS in the last 5 meetings.
