NBA Playoffs Friday Preview: Best Bets for Rockets vs. Warriors, Clippers vs. Nuggets

Days like Friday are kind of like being at the eye of the NBA playoff hurricane — not much is going on, but that’s only temporary. So, with just the Rockets and Warriors playing today, we’ll look ahead so that we can talk about some additional NBA playoff picks.

But let’s start with Game 6 of a competitive series between the Houston Rockets (No. 2 seed) and the Golden State Warriors (No. 7 seed).

Houston Rockets (+5) vs. Golden State Warriors (-230), o/u 203.5

Rockets +5 at -112

With Steph Curry nursing a thumb injury, it may be all up to Jimmy Butler. Butler is certainly capable of turning it on and taking over a game, but can we count on him to do so? He scored 25, 3, 27 and 8 in the four games he played in. So, I don’t know.

However, the Warriors are pretty dominant when playing at home in the postseason (17-3 in their last 20). Golden State will be pulling out all the stops in an effort to close this one out. I think they will, but it will be a pretty close game.

Jimmy Butler, OVER 20.5 points at -128
First-quarter points, OVER 4.5 at +108

When he’s played the bulk of the game, Butler scored 20-plus (Game 1 — 25, and Game 3 — 27). With Steph not 100%, the Warriors will push the offense through Butler. Houston will know this and defend accordingly, but Butler will get enough shots to go over 20.5 points.

As for his first-quarter points, Butler has talked about the team getting off to a better start. I think he’ll do his best to lead by example and easily score five points in the first.

Jalen Green, UNDER 23.5 pts + reb + ast

His regular-season average for this combo was 29, led by his 21 PPG average. But during the playoffs — other than hanging 38 on the Warriors in Game 2 — he’s been nonexistent, scoring 9, 8 and 11 points in the last three games and not doing much more on the boards or dimes.

It would be nice if the guy who hit 8 of 18 3-point attempts showed up, but his numbers over the last three games say don’t count on it.

Los Angeles Clippers (-1) vs. Denver Nuggets (-102), o/u 204.5

Denver +1 at -110

The Clippers got what they needed to win Game 6: stellar performances from Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and Norman Powell. If they’re going to win in Denver and steal the series away from the Nuggets, they’ll need everyone to have a similar or better game than they had in Game 6.

I don’t think it will happen. Kawhi Leonard will easily go for 20-plus points. But it is hard to be confident in Harden (32, 18, 20, 15, 11 and 28 points) and/or Powell (12, 13, 20, 22, 12 and 24). One of them will let the team down, and Denver will take the W.