The final Game 1 of the weekend is the start of potentially the most compelling series of the first round. The young, upstart Rockets are the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference as they host the playoff-proven Warriors, who finished the season hot and knocked off the Grizzlies in the Play-in Tournament to get to this series. Houston will be hyped for Game 1, which is scheduled to tip off at 9:40 p.m. ET at the Toyota Center. Let’s take a look at my Warriors vs. Rockets best bets for Game 1 on DraftKings Sportsbook.
In the bigger picture, the Rockers are slim one-point home favorites with the total set at O/U 212 points. The injury report is pretty clean for both teams, with Jae’Sean Tate (ankle) and Jock Landale (knee) out, but the rest of both teams ready to go for Game 1.
Warriors vs. Rockets best bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Amen Thompson over 26.5 Points + Rebounds + Assists (-120)
There are so many ways to get an “Amen” on your card this Easter Sunday night! You could take a look at 2+ blocks at +140 or even over 2.5 Blocks + Steals at -130. There’s no need to get too weird, though, since he can contribute in so many ways.
I’ll take him for this over 27 PRA (Points + Rebounds + Assists) and also sprinkle a little on his 30+ PRA at +150. Given how great he’s been in some games (including against good teams like Boston), you could even get wilder and include 40+ PRA at +1100.
Thompson’s season averages are lower due to his early-season low numbers. He started 40 of his last 41 games and averaged 15.6 points, 9.1 rebounds and 5.0 assists for 29.7 PRA. Since March 1, he averaged 14.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists in 13 games, for a total of 27.6 PRA. However, in some of those games he played very limited minutes as the Rockets monitored his workload down the stretch.
Since he’ll play plenty of minutes on Sunday night, I think he’ll comfortably go over this mark of 27 PRA. Two weeks ago, Thompson had 26 PRA but only played 30 minutes against the Warriors. With more workload, he’s all over my Warriors vs. Rockets best bets for Sunday, but my favorite pick is this basic PRA over which should be very doable.
Jimmy Butler over 22.5 points (-115)
Playoff Jimmy has arrived.
He scored a season-high 38 points in the Play-in Tournament and has gone over this number in four straight games for Golden State. His regular-season numbers all point to him going under this number, but Butler is a totally different beast in the playoffs.
In his last 99 career playoff games, Butler has averaged 23.3 points, and he went over this scoring line in 18 of his last 24 playoff games, not counting his massive Play-in Tournament game. The Rockets will focus on holding Steph Curry in check like they did when the teams met earlier this month, which will leave more usage and opportunities for Butler to take over.
Jabari Smith Jr. 8+ Rebounds (+145)
Smith Jr. has gone over this number of rebounds in four straight and five of his last six games. He had nine boards in just 27 minutes off the bench against the Warriors in his last game before resting the final three games of the season.
The 21-year-old was limited to 57 games with a hand injury, but he averaged 7.0 rebounds per game while playing just 30.1 minutes per game. He has been in and out of the starting five, but he does good work on the glass regardless of whether he starts of comes off the bench.
Smith isn’t quite as aggressive scoring as some of the other options in the Rockets’ rotation, but getting him to hit this number on the glass at plus-money is definitely one of the Warriors vs. Rockets best bets that jumps out to me this Sunday in Game 1.
