The Houston Rockets can advance to the NBA Finals if they can beat the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night. But it doesn't feel like a potentially festive occasion, does it? The general consensus is that the defending world champions will hold serve at home and force Game 7 in Houston, because, well, they are, after all, the defending world champs, and one of the big stars on the Houston roster is unavailable for action. Okay, let's see what happens as these teams get together on Saturday night at 9:05 PM ET at the Oracle Arena. If you are signed up with BetAnySports, you can get reduced juice, which offers you better value in the odds, and then after the game begins, you can stay in the action with the advanced technology from Live Betting Ultra.

The Rockets, who were humiliated by a 126-85 score in Game 3 of this Western Conference finals series, but they were able to come back strong, with wins both on the road and at home, and that showed a lot of character. The problem is that one of the guys who has come alive for them - point guard Chris Paul - had to leave Game 5 in the waning moments with a hamstring injury, and he is out for Saturday night's contest. Paul has averaged 13.2 points in the second half in this series, and when somebody like James Harden gets cold as he did in Game 5, when he went a ghastly 0-for-11 from the floor, Paul can pick up some of that slack.

So without one of their two certifiable superstars, can the Rockets prevail, or at least get close enough to cover?

Let's take a look at the NBA playoff lines, as they have been posted by our friends at BetAnySports:

Golden State Warriors -12.5
Houston Rockets +12.5

Over 212.5 points -110
Under 212.5 points -110

This is such an intriguing game to handicap, because of the possibility that at some point, if they get way behind, Houston might just conserve resources, give starters some rest, and just load up for an all-in Game 7 that would take place on their home floor, rather than risk being short-handed even more. No, we didn't say "tank," although that is what it would amount to. There is at least the possibility that Paul would be healthy enough to play in a seventh game. But I'm thinking that is the kind of thing that would be dictated by what happens in the first half.

Several things have to be considered here. One is that somehow, the Warriors have not been themselves, for the most part, in this series - meaning that they have not exhibited the ball movement that has propelled them all year long. In no game of this series have they made as many as 300 passes, and they have averaged 335 for the season. There has been too much isolation, particularly on the part of Kevin Durant, who is just 17-46 in the last two games. In the NBA, "isolation" basically is a code word for when a guy basically becomes the ball hog and decides to make the play himself; let's face it. And while that is something the Rockets thrive on, with Harden, that isn't the Warrior's way. The Houston defense has something to do with it, to be fair, but that is something Golden State could conceivably correct.

Without Paul, the Rockets would have to go elsewhere for a point guard, but does it matter? Harden is the guy with the highest Usage rate in the league, and he was third in the league in assists. The dilemma for Mike D'Antoni is that he may have to expand his rotation a little, which might bring in another three-point shooter (Ryan Anderson) and a strong wing defender (Luc Mbah a Moute). But Harden can't shoot blanks from the outside again; he shouldn't even ATTEMPT eleven triples. He needs to get to the free throw line, and he did a good job of it in Game 5 (9-for-9).

If you are looking for interesting statistics, in this series, the Rockets have played 47 minutes with Harden on the floor and without Paul. During that time, they have out-scored the Warriors by 11.6 points per 100 possessions, which essentially projects itself to double-digits, or close to it, over the course of a full game. We are not suggesting that the Rockets can win this game easily, or win it at all, but they may not be the sitting duck everybody seems to think they are.

At the outset of this series I thought that the Warriors would have advantages with the matchups in half-court play and that Houston couldn't run with them either. But with less in the way of ball distribution and more isolation, in addition to allowing the pace to get slower, G-State has ceded those advantages, by and large. That creates a different dynamic here. Also remember that if the Rockets shut things, the Warriors might also clean out its bench. I don't know; these are just some ideas. But with the absence of Paul, we are watching a shift of 4-5 points from where the lines in Oakland were when Paul was healthy. And there is no guarantee that Andre Iguodala, a definite difference-maker for the Dubs, is going to be available. We would side with a value play on Houston.

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