Houston Rockets vs Golden State Warriors Odds, Picks & Player Props (Nov. 20)

Odds as of Nov. 20 at ESPN Bet. New users can claim $250 in bonus bets by using SBD’s ESPN Bet promo code (DIME) .

Golden State’s losing streak has barely impacted its NBA Western Conference odds; the Warriors were +629 on Nov. 9 and +686 today.

During their surprisingly strong 5-4 start, Houston’s odds to win the West have improved massively, from +17500 on opening day to +8500 today. The Rockets’ NBA title odds have improved commensurately (+37857 to +27500).

Rockets Fall to Lakers Last Night

Houston lost to the Los Angeles Lakers last night in heartbreaking fashion (105-104) as first-year Rocket Dillon Brooks and LeBron James renewed hostilities. Houston let a six-point halftime lead slip away and could only watch as LeBron James made the game-winning free throw with 1.2 seconds on the clock.

Third-year pro Alperen Sengun, who sits among the top-five favorites in the NBA Most Improved Player odds, continued to impress with a team-high 23 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

The Laker game stayed 12.5 points under the total of 221.5, marking the eighth time in 11 outings that Houston has hit the under, which is the highest under rate in the NBA (72.7%).

Free agent acquisition Fred VanVleet (17.3 PPG, 8.8 APG) settled into the Houston offense quickly, while defensive stalwart Brooks (13.7 PPG, 3.4 RPG) has provided valuable secondary scoring while playing his usual brand of tenacious defence.

Golden State Drops Suffers Devastating Loss to OKC

During their 6-2 start to the season, which included a 106-95 win at Houston, Golden State had the look of a team that could challenge Denver for Western Conference supremacy. Last year, poor play on the road was the bane of their existence, but they started this season 5-1 away from home.

That’s all a distant memory now, though, as a six-game losing streak has dropped the Dubs two games under .500 and down to 10th in the Western Conference standings.

Golden State’s most-recent loss to OKC on Saturday was perhaps the toughest to stomach. Up double-digits at halftime (61-51), OKC chipped away but still trailed by three with just three seconds left after Andrew Wiggins hit a go-ahead triple. That’s when Chet Holmgren drained a game-tying three of his own with just 0.1 on the clock.

OKC, which also downed the Dubs 128-109 two days prior, would go onto win 130-123 in OT. Golden State was torched for 40 by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the overtime loss.

Golden State was forced to play both OKC games without Draymond Green, who is serving a five-game suspension for choking Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert and will also miss tonight’s tilt with Houston.

Steph Curry missed two games (Tuesday’s 104-101 loss to Minnesota and Thursday’s blowout loss to OKC) but returned from a knee injury during Saturday’s OT setback, scoring 25 points in 40 minutes.

HOU Rockets vs GS Warriors Player Props

Player props and odds from the DraftKings Sportsbook app on Nov. 20. 

Curry, per usual, has the highest point total over/under tonight at 28.5 points. The two-time MVP has been the only consistent scorer for Golden State this season, averaging 30.3 PPG (which would be the second-highest of his career if it holds up), more than twice that of any of his Warrior teammates.

Klay Thompson is second on the team with just 14.0 PPG, well below his 19.7 PPG career average. Unless he picks up his scoring pace significantly, this will be the first time since 2013-14 that Thompson doesn’t average at least 20 PPG.

Sengun, Houston’s leading scorer at 20.1 PPG, and Jalen Green (18.2 PPG) are tied for the highest point total among the Rockets on the board at 19.5 O/U.

Rockets vs Warriors Prediction

This year’s Houston Rockets are proving extremely difficult to brush aside. Only two of the team’s five losses have come by more than six points, and both of those came during the first three games of the season. After an 0-3 start, they won six in a row (all at home) and then lost to the Clippers and Lakers, cumulatively, by seven points. Their 7-3-1 ATS record is sixth-best in the NBA.

Houston’s pace – second-slowest pace in the NBA this season (97.26 possessions per 48 minutes) – and defensive effort are apt to continue to keep games close. While the Warriors led the NBA in pace last year (102.54), they sit just 13th this season (100.29). Without consistent secondary scoring from Thompson and Andrew Wiggins, it’s too hard to back the slumping Warriors to win by seven or more.

While ESPN Bet lists the line at 6.5, bettors can still get Houston +7 on the FanDuel app and the DraftKings app.

HOU vs GS pick: Rockets +7 (-105)