Now that the 2014-2015 NBA Playoffs are past the midway point and in the Western Conference we see the No. 7 Seed Mavericks of Dallas playing the No. 2 seed Rockets of Houston in the Round 1 Game 5 with the Rockets leading the series 3-1. This Game 5 is played on Tuesday the 28th of April 2015 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas with Tip-Off at 8 PM ET and seen on TNT TV.
The opening betting odds have the Rockets of Houston favored in this game at -6 ½ with the Total 222 and -265 on the Money Line, with the comeback on the Mavericks of Dallas at +6 ½ and +225 on the Money Line.
First we take a look at a breakdown of the 1st four games leading up to this Game 5, as in Game 1 in Houston on Saturday the18th of April, the Rockets beat the Mavericks by 10 points at 118 to108, then in Game 2 on Tuesday the 21st of April, also in Houston, the Rockets beat the Mavericks by 12 points at 111 to 99. In Game 3 in Dallas on Friday the 24th of April, again the Rockets beat the Mavericks by 2 points at 130-28. Finally in Game 4 on Sunday the 26th of April in Dallas, the Mavericks got their 1st win and beat the Rockets by 12 points at 121-109.
After this game 5 in Houston the series moves to Dallas for Game 6 (if needed) on Thursday the 30th of April with time TBD, and the Final Game 7 (if needed) on Saturday May 2nd 2015 will be played in Houston with TBD.
With a great comeback win this past Sunday the Mavericks avoided being swept on of this series playoffs in Game 4, and now the fans wonder if the Mavericks can pull off another win in Game 5, and move this game back to Dallas for Game 6 in front of their home fans, or will the Rockets defeat the Mavericks and move on to the second round of the playoffs.
If you Bet on NBA at a Sportsbook and are a Mavericks of Dallas fan, you’re team is not leaving the State of Texas as this Game 5 will be in Houston just down the road for your fans sake. Your Coach Carlisle made a smart move and put J. Barea in the starting 5 and it paid off in that Game 4 as the Puerto Rica had some 13 assists and made 17 points in the game. As it turned out he was the perfect partner in the backcourt with M. Ellis who was 13 for 21 from field goal range and scored 31 points in Game 4. Also playing off the bench at the small forward was A. Aminu who has stepped in when needed and scored 31 points in the last 2 games against the Rockets. Also, the Mavericks will be looking to step up their 3-point shooting as in the previous 2 games they made 21 of 57 in this Game 5 as their previous completions were below the normal percentage for 3- pointers if the team is to win this Game 5.
Now if you’re a Rockets of Houston fan and you wager at a offshore sportsbook, then you know your team could not wrap up this series and sweep the Mavericks in 4 games, so now they are seeking to end the series with a win in this game 5 at home in front of you, their fans as the host their Texas rivals at the Toyota Center. That seems very likely since the Rockets in their last 4 games with the Mavericks in Houston are 4-0 against the spread as well as 4-0 straight up.
Overall in Game 4 the Rockets did not play well as on 31 3-point shots they only completed 7 and that’s an unbelievable low percentage of 22.7 percent. If that part of their game remains the same in this Game 5 then they will have to get their offense from the inside with T. Jones and D, Howard. Thus far they have dominated the inside in the series averaging 57.6 points from the inside, and in Game 4 they had 60.1 points from the inside.
Talking with some media experts they stated they are predicting the Rockets if Houston will score 119 points in the game to 114 points by the Mavericks to win the series at home and move on to the 2nd Round of the 2014-15 NBA Playoffs in the Western Conference.