NBA
Tuesday, April 28
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Game of the Day: Tuesday's NBA Playoffs matchups
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Dallas Mavericks at Houston Rockets (-7, 222)
Rockets lead series 3-1
Raymond Felton got the first chance to start in place of Rondo at the point in Game 3 but Carlisle decided to go with more energy in Game 4 and pushed Barea into the first unit. The veteran responded with 17 points and 13 assists in 36 minutes. “I'm trying to push it every time," Barea told reporters. “I'm trying to be aggressive and my teammates, people around me are ballin'. I'm just trying to attack and do my job. If I do my job and I create problems for their defense, then I think everybody else plays a lot looser and more open.”
Houston missed 17 straight shots in a 10-minute span that bridged the half and never recovered in Game 4. “We got slow offensively, the ball stuck,” Rockets coach Kevin McHale told reporters. “We didn’t do very well for that stretch. All that being said, it was our offensive rebounding and our lack of being able to contain the ball that ended up beating us. Our offense sucked for a while. That was a fatal blow, more of our effort overall I think.” MVP candidate James Harden went 1-of-7 from 3-point range in the loss while handing out a series-low five assists.
LINE HISTORY: The Rockets opened as 6-point favorites, while the total opened at 222.
TRENDS:
* Over is 8-1 in Rockets last nine home games.
* Mavericks are 0-4 ATS in the last four meetings in Houston.
* Rockets are 7-1 ATS in their last eight Conference Quarterfinals games.
* Over is 9-1 in Mavericks last 10 vs. Western Conference.
San Antonio Spurs at Los Angeles Clippers (-2, 205)
Series tied 2-2
Coach Gregg Popovich was highly disappointed with his club’s Game 4 performance, particularly when you factor in the important of the game. “In general, we lacked a lot of discipline,” Popovich told reporters. “We didn’t execute sharply enough in what we wanted to do strategy-wise or just in general basketball play. I’m just more disappointed in the lack of focus than anything else, and not being as sharp in a lot of situations.” Small forward Kahwi Leonard continued his strong play with 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists and is averaging 24.8 points in the series.
Though Chris Paul had a huge game and power forward Blake Griffin stood out with 20 points and 19 rebounds, backup guard Austin Rivers might have provided the biggest impact with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Rivers has been much-maligned throughout his three-year NBA career and the criticism has increased since he joined the club coached by father Doc Rivers. “This is something I know I can do,” Rivers told reporters. “It wasn’t a surprise for me. Obviously it is to you guys but I’ve been working so hard and this team has been working so hard.”
LINE HISTORY: The Clippers opened as 2-point home faves while the total opened at 205.
TRENDS:
* Over is 9-4 in the last 13 meetings.
* Spurs are 2-5 ATS in their last seven vs. Western Conference.
* Clippers are 1-6 ATS in their last seven home games.
* Clippers are 1-4-1 ATS in their last six games following a S.U. win.
Tuesday, April 28
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game of the Day: Tuesday's NBA Playoffs matchups
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dallas Mavericks at Houston Rockets (-7, 222)
Rockets lead series 3-1
Raymond Felton got the first chance to start in place of Rondo at the point in Game 3 but Carlisle decided to go with more energy in Game 4 and pushed Barea into the first unit. The veteran responded with 17 points and 13 assists in 36 minutes. “I'm trying to push it every time," Barea told reporters. “I'm trying to be aggressive and my teammates, people around me are ballin'. I'm just trying to attack and do my job. If I do my job and I create problems for their defense, then I think everybody else plays a lot looser and more open.”
Houston missed 17 straight shots in a 10-minute span that bridged the half and never recovered in Game 4. “We got slow offensively, the ball stuck,” Rockets coach Kevin McHale told reporters. “We didn’t do very well for that stretch. All that being said, it was our offensive rebounding and our lack of being able to contain the ball that ended up beating us. Our offense sucked for a while. That was a fatal blow, more of our effort overall I think.” MVP candidate James Harden went 1-of-7 from 3-point range in the loss while handing out a series-low five assists.
LINE HISTORY: The Rockets opened as 6-point favorites, while the total opened at 222.
TRENDS:
* Over is 8-1 in Rockets last nine home games.
* Mavericks are 0-4 ATS in the last four meetings in Houston.
* Rockets are 7-1 ATS in their last eight Conference Quarterfinals games.
* Over is 9-1 in Mavericks last 10 vs. Western Conference.
San Antonio Spurs at Los Angeles Clippers (-2, 205)
Series tied 2-2
Coach Gregg Popovich was highly disappointed with his club’s Game 4 performance, particularly when you factor in the important of the game. “In general, we lacked a lot of discipline,” Popovich told reporters. “We didn’t execute sharply enough in what we wanted to do strategy-wise or just in general basketball play. I’m just more disappointed in the lack of focus than anything else, and not being as sharp in a lot of situations.” Small forward Kahwi Leonard continued his strong play with 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists and is averaging 24.8 points in the series.
Though Chris Paul had a huge game and power forward Blake Griffin stood out with 20 points and 19 rebounds, backup guard Austin Rivers might have provided the biggest impact with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Rivers has been much-maligned throughout his three-year NBA career and the criticism has increased since he joined the club coached by father Doc Rivers. “This is something I know I can do,” Rivers told reporters. “It wasn’t a surprise for me. Obviously it is to you guys but I’ve been working so hard and this team has been working so hard.”
LINE HISTORY: The Clippers opened as 2-point home faves while the total opened at 205.
TRENDS:
* Over is 9-4 in the last 13 meetings.
* Spurs are 2-5 ATS in their last seven vs. Western Conference.
* Clippers are 1-6 ATS in their last seven home games.
* Clippers are 1-4-1 ATS in their last six games following a S.U. win.
