Rockets vs Warriors Free Pick, NBA Free Picks, NBA Predictions 4/6/25
- J.A. Cavalier
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
ROCKETS @ WARRIORS 4/6/25
NBA ODDS, NBA PREDICTIONS, NBA PREVIEWS
ROCKETS @ WARRIORS 4/6/25
When the Houston Rockets visit the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco tonight, they will face a longtime rival, but they can also take a significant step toward securing the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
If the Rockets (51-27) win their 52nd game, they will at least tie for second place with the Los Angeles Lakers (47-30), who will be in Oklahoma City on Sunday afternoon. With their final regular-season meeting scheduled for Friday in Los Angeles, the Rockets and Lakers are 1-1 in their season series, which could result in a seeding tiebreaker.
The Warriors (46-31) will also be watching the Lakers-Thunder game because, depending on the outcome in San Francisco that evening, a Los Angeles loss would put the team in a tie with Golden State in the loss column. With one week remaining, a Warriors victory could also put them ahead of Denver (47-31), who will host Indiana on Sunday.
The Rockets would prefer to avoid Golden State in the playoffs, according to history. The Warriors started the season with a 13-game winning streak in head-to-head games and have now won three of four in this season's series.
The Warriors haven't lost to the Rockets in San Francisco since February 20, 2020. It was so long ago that James Harden and Russell Westbrook combined for 50 points for the winners. Stephen Curry didn’t play in that game because his left hand was broken.
Since Jimmy Butler III joined the Warriors in early February, the teams will be playing each other for the second time. In the team's fourth game following the trade with Miami, Golden State won 105-98 on the road in Houston with 27 points from Curry and 19 from Butler.
Since the blockbuster, Golden State has gone 21-5, but more significantly, they have gone 7-2 since Brandin Podziemski returned to the starting lineup after missing five games due to a back injury. Moses Moody and Draymond Green have joined that trio in the starting lineup, and the Warriors are 14-0 when that pair is among the starters.
Even though Curry and Butler have received the majority of the attention, Podziemski has scored more than 26 points in three of Golden State's victories during their current five-game winning streak. He has made 20-of-38 three-point attempts during the stretch. Curry has averaged 41.7 points in his last three games.
The Rockets defeated the Thunder 125-111 at home on Friday, their fifth straight victory. That marked the start of the Rockets' final stretch, which will see them play the Nuggets at home in the regular-season finale after traveling to Southern California to play both LA teams after defeating the Warriors.
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COACH RICK FREE PICK:
BRANDON PODZIEMSKI UNDER 2.5 THREE-POINTERS
Yes, Podziemski has been hot as of late. In his last two games, he’s hit 12 threes. However, when he goes up against top 10 defenses, Podziemski struggles. In 17 of his last 19 games against a top 10 3PT defense, Podziemski has gone Under 2.5 threes. Houston is a top 10 defense against the three. Podziemski has gone up against the Rockets three times this season. Not once did he record more than two three-pointers. In fact, he hasn’t gone Over 2.5 in his last 6 games against the Warriors. Podziemski has been hot as of late, but for the season he’s gone Under this number in 78 percent of his games.