The Houston Rockets have come a long way, and now, at least as far as the regular season is concerned, they have overtaken the Golden State Warriors for Western Conference supremacy. But the playoffs can be another story entirely, and this is where the Rockets really have to start all over again to prove themselves. They will begin their best-of-seven series against the world champion Golden State Warriors on Monday night, with the winner advancing to the NBA Finals. And by virtue of their conference-leading 65 wins, they have the home court advantage, which means they get to open things up at the Toyota Center, at 9:05 PM ET. It will be televised on TNT, and as BetAnySports customers are watching it, they can place wagers while things are in progress, using the technology from Live Betting Ultra.

The Rockets have become a fascinating story, in that among the 30 NBA teams, they are the one that probably implements principles that are rooted in analytics more than any other.

As such, the way they approach offense is to look for three-pointers, layups and free throw opportunities. So they take half their shots from downtown, and almost nothing from five to 20 feet. Houston takes almost no mid-range jumpers, and that is by design.

Despite the acquisition of Chris Paul, one of the league's best point guards, James Harden is very much the focal point of the offense, ranking third in assists and leading the league in scoring. He is also the guy who gets to the line; Harden had 129 more free throw attempts than anyone else in the NBA this season.

The Warriors, who were 11th in the NBA in Defensive Rating, have to figure out a way to make Houston, which scored 114.7 points per 100 possessions, less efficient offensively.

In the NBA playoff odds on this game as posted at BetAnySports, the Rockets are laying a small number at home:

Houston Rockets -1.5
Golden State Warriors +1.5

Over 225 points -110
Under 225 points -110

Harden has a tendency to dominate the ball; hence the Usage percentage that is the highest in the league. It is because of his ability and that of Chris Paul in the half-court that the Rockets are not playing the fast break offense all the time, as Mike D'Antoni has favored in the past. Actually they are 13th in the "Pace" category. And what the Warriors have to so is make Harden attempts shots from uncomfortable places, thus making the Houston offense less effective. Klay Thompson, a good defender, has been able to deal with Harden without having to foul him all that much, and if he can continue to do that, he can take something away from what Harden does best.

As part of the overall strategy, G-State would like to chase Houston off the three-point line, because that immediately takes them out of their game to an extent - IF they can force those mid-range shots. Opponents of the Warriors took about 32% of their shots from downtown, so they didn't do badly in that area.

The Rockets had new and improved defense this season (6th in the NBA). The presence of Paul is impactful right away, as he has made the NBA All-Defensive team nine times. Trevor Ariza will probably assume the primary responsibility for dealing with Kevin Durant, and in one-on-one play between the two this season, Durant shot only 28.6%. The difference between these teams, however, is that if Durant gets slowed down, Steve Kerr's team can do a lot of other things, including a three-point barrage from Thompson and Steph Curry, or whatever it is that Draymond Green can do on any given night.

And we'll see how well the Rockets will do against that small lineup of the Warriors - known as the "Death" lineup or the "Hamptons 5." Remember that the Warriors can shoot threes as well as Houston can, and they can run the floor just as well, if not better. So Houston will have to control the paint to have a big chance here. We're counting on Golden State's considerable edge in playoff experience at this level to prevail.

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