We got to have that underdog mentality but as I said before Game 1. Series was close to 50-50 even without Bev, Mo
Best thing that could happen. After last night, we badly need The Wolf to come in and warn the Rockets not to start s***ing each others' ****s yet.
This has been a high variance series-- from game to game and even from quarter to quarter. I just have no idea which Rockets and which Clippers team are gonna show up at any given moment. My sense, and that of the bookies and betting public it seems, is that the Clippers are more talented overall. So if each team is having their "average day," the Clipper will win (I felt the same way about Clippers vs. Spurs). But these teams haven't often had "average days" against each other.
Here's the problem that I see. We were down 17 with one of our best players in, and then we won after he was out. This shows that while our team has the skills and heart to beat them, there is something wrong with the system. The question becomes, what version of the team will show up on Game 7? This is why we're considered the underdogs.
Have you all noticed that in most of the media today the discussion was about the Clips' "collapse", and not our comeback? The implication being, it was all because of Clips' sloppy play and not at all because of anything the Rockets really did. Sure, they had some lapses, but do their 4th quarter lapses not cancel our 3rd quarter lapses out to a degree? Narratives. I guess it's easier for them to tell themselves it was just a Clips "collapse" instead of a Rockets' "push".
And one other thing I noticed... Harden was battling flu-like symptoms, has been for a few days. Is 5-20 the norm for him? Of course not. Why not mention he was sick? Narratives... Unless he's got freaking ebola I wouldn't count on a repeat of that performance in game 7.
The fact that Rockets were down 3-1 in the series has no bearing on the point spread. That's like saying black has hit twice in row so red is due. Uhh, no. The odds of a team coming back from 3-1 have no bearing on the odds of Rocket win on Sunday. The odds of a home team winning game 7 at home should be considered. The Rcokets don't have to win 3 games on Sunday, just 1. The line makes no sense and I'm absolutely shocked that it hasn't yet moved to Rockets being favored. I'm guessing the smart money is waiting to see how high the dumb public can push it in LA's favor. A half point here or there on a line this tight is huge.
The other thing that's happening with this line IMO is Vegas is perfectly happy to have a lot of Clipper bets. They know the perception of the two teams among public bettors and know true dead money is sure to fire on LA in a Game 7 road game. The true odds are most definitely in the Rockets favor but bookies are stealing money hand over fist letting public bettors hammer LA.
This is the sort of statistic that is rendered ENTIRELY irrelevant by a game 6 road win facing elimination. HCA back to us, 3-3, BOTH teams facing elimination. We've won the last two and have momentum. That particular stat has meaning because most teams crumble before they've accomplished what this team has. More realistically, the only consideration is this: one game left, winner take all. And I'll take home court and momentum for that any day of the week, history be damned.
Exactly. We haven't won anything yet. I hope they enjoyed the win last night and they're refocused and hungry. All will be for not if they don't put forth the same type of effort and execute on Sunday.
This is the worst logic ever. If you flip a coin three times and the first two come up heads, the odds of the third one being heads/tails are still 50:50. The results of the first two do not influence the third. For what it's worth, ESPN's BPI gives the Rockets a 53% shot. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rockets have 53% chance of advancing to the WCF to face the Warriors.</p>— Ben Alamar (@BenAlamar) <a href="https://twitter.com/BenAlamar/status/599424153104588800">May 16, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Its logical ppl going with percentages and history....92 percent of teams leading3-1 in the 2nd round have advanced now lets go out and be the ninth team to buck the trend.....Momentum is on our side right mchale
To quote Demeco Ryans in a pregame speech: "WE GOING TO RIP THE HEART OUR OF THESE ****ING HATERS, HOW THE HELL WE UNDERDOGS IN OUR HOUSE" That speech still gets me hyped several years after.
Ha! Thanks to Sling TV, I can finally watch the playoffs. In the regular season, Harden single handily carried the teams to victories. Harden is putting up good stats in the playoffs, but he's simply not taking over like he has in the past.
