Golden State Warriors vs Houston Rockets: Match Preview and Predictions - 6th November 2019
Match details
Fixture: Golden State Warriors vs Houston Rockets
Date & Time: Friday, 6th, November 2019 (7:30 PM ET)
Venue: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Last game results
Golden State Warriors (2-5): 127-118 win against the Portland Trail Blazers (November 4th, 2019)
Houston Rockets (4-3): 107-100 win against the Memphis Grizzlies (November 4th, 2019)
Golden State Warriors Preview
2019/20 was always going to be a tough season for the Golden State Warriors due to off-season roster changes and a long-term injury suffered by Klay Thompson in the 2019 NBA Finals. Things have gotten worse as last week Stephen Curry broke his hand and will miss three months of action.
It has gotten worse as Kevon Looney is expected to miss four games due to nerve problems, Draymond Green missed Monday night’s contest due to injury to his left index finger, and D’Angelo Russell is a day to day with an ankle injury, but head coach Steve Kerr is hopeful Russell can return Wednesday against the Rockets. He will be needed as the Warriors are off to a 2-5 start with their depleted lineup.
Key Player – D’Angelo Russell
With recent injuries to Stephen Curry and Kevon Looney, the Warriors plan to tread water between now and Klay Thompson’s return gets infinitely harder. D’Angelo Russell's signing with the Warriors in the off-season was supposed to prevent the Warriors from falling out of playoff contention.
For his part, when fit, D’Angelo Russell has averaged 19ppg and 6.4apg in a Warriors’ uniform. However, he is currently listed as day to day but there is a strong possibility he could play Wednesday night against the Rockets.
Warriors predicted lineup
D’Angelo Russell, Ky Bowman, Eric Paschall, Glen Robinson III, Willie Cauley-Stein
Houston Rockets Preview
The Houston Rockets have had a mediocre start to the new NBA season at 4-3. They are 2-1 at home and 2-2 on the road. In their last outing, in a 107-100 victory over the Grizzlies James Harden was hot with 44 points in 37 minutes and he had a double-double with 10 rebounds.
A recurring theme early for the Rockets is their bench is not very productive contributing just 22 points in Monday night's win. However, with Russell Westbrook resting Monday night, Eric Gordon was thrust into the starting lineup further weakening the Rockets’ bench. It also doesn’t help that both Nene, listed as day to day, and Gerald Green out 6 months (left foot) are not in the lineup.
The Rockets are also struggling with their three-point shot making it just 31% of the time on 48 attempts per game.
Key Player – James Harden
The Rockets’ success is dependent heavily on James Harden's play. He is once again supplying his team with MVP-like numbers at over 36ppg, 7.4apg, and 5.1rpg. In addition to the 44 points he scored Monday night against the Grizzlies, Harden scored 36 in a seven-point loss to the Nets Friday night and 29 against the Heat in a 29-point loss on Sunday.
Two areas of concern with Harden’s game is his three-point shooting is just 25.3% on about 14 attempts per game and his turnovers are high at 5.7 per game.
Rockets predicted lineup
Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Clint Capela, P.J. Tucker, Danuel House
Warriors vs Rockets match prediction
This is a matchup of two wounded teams. However, the Warriors roster deletions due to injury are much more significant. Expect that the Rockets will continue to struggle to produce points off of the bench. There is also their inability to hit 3-pointers consistently considering they take 48 of them per game.
The Warriors need D’Angelo Russell to play Wednesday night as they are without Stephen Curry and Draymond Green might not be available either. A bright spot for the Warriors is rookie power forward Eric Paschall who is averaging 16.9ppg. Monday against Portland he had a double-double scoring 34 points in 40 minutes and secured 13 rebounds.
Houston is in better shape health-wise and should secure a victory on homecourt Wednesday night.
Where to Watch Warriors vs Rockets?
The Warriors vs Rockets contest Wednesday, November 6th, 2019 can be seen on ESPN, AT&T Sportsnet-South West and it can be streamed live with NBA League Pass online.