NBA Basketball
2013-04-27 - Oklahoma City Thunder at Houston Rockets
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: NBA Basketball Play Offs
Saturday 27 April 2013 - Tip Off 9:30pm
2:30am (British Time)
Preview
After the first two games of this series, the Oklahoma City Thunder would have felt very comfortable with a 2-0 lead and would have felt they could easily split the two games in Houston and complete their path to the Semi Finals next week. However, an injury to an extremely key part of their team means the Thunder are now very much not the the trendy pick to make it back to the NBA Finals after finishing short of a Championship last season.
It is all down to the fact that Russell Westbrook suffered a knee injury that will see him sit for the rest of the Play Offs, the first games he has ever missed in his career since high school. Westbrook suffered the injury by Patrick Beverley in Game 2 when trying to call a time out and it was confirmed that he is out for the whole Play Offs just a couple of days later as he goes in for surgery.
Westbrook may not always make the smartest decisions for the Thunder on court, but he is very effective and his absence means teams can now try and double-team Kevin Durant. Previously, Westbrook could make single coverage pay, but his absence does put the scoring pressure on Durant.
Durant himself knows as much when speaking to the press, while Reggie Jackson has big shoes to fill as the starting Point Guard. Houston were disappointed for Westbrook that he misses out, but they are no fools and admitted his absence does give them a real chance to get back into the series.
James Harden knows the guys in Oklahoma City better than anyone on the Rockets roster and admitted that Westbrook is a big loss but wants to keep expectations in check by talking up Jackson and his ability. Harden will be given a lot of minutes in this one as Houston will likely be missing Jeremy Lin.
There is also little concern that Beverley will be upset by the talk of his play on Westbrook being 'dirty' and deliberately injuring him. While he is a rookie, Beverley has spoken of his experience gained from playing in Russia, a country where being a black man can lead to unfortunate racial abuse.
Head to Head
Oklahoma City are 2-0 up in the series and 4-1 up over the course of the season against Houston.
However, they have split their two meetings in Houston.
Prediction
It is tough to read the mindset of the Oklahoma City players as they are missing such a big player in Russell Westbrook and that emotion could get to them on the road.
Houston are desperate to grab Game 3 and to make this into a series and as long as they have recovered from the disappointment of losing Game 2 when within their grasp, the Rockets can certainly win this one.
The Rockets are the slight underdogs in most places and I'll be backing them in Game 3.
The Pick :
Houston Rockets 103-98 Oklahoma City Thunder
