The Houston Rockets finished second in the stacked Western Conference, earning their first playoff berth in four years. Their reward was a veteran-laden Warriors team, a team that had won eight of their previous 11 games.
Golden State surprised the Rockets, taking a 95-85 victory over the home team. Steph Curry poured in 31 points to lead Golden State, and Warriors coach Steve Kerr earned his 100th career playoff victory in the process.
Can the Warriors move one game closer to eliminating the Rockets from the playoffs for a fifth consecutive time? We’ll cover that and provide bettors with our three favorite player prop wagers for the second game of this best-of-seven series.
Golden State Warriors PG Steph Curry UNDER 35.5 Pts + Reb + Ast
For one game, Warriors guard Steph Curry turned back the clock. The 37-year-old finished with 31 points, six rebounds, and three assists to lead his team to victory in the first game of this best-of-seven series.
Still, Curry was abysmal at times against the Rockets during the regular season. The legendary guard averaged 16.3 points, 5.3 assists, and 3.3 rebounds in three previous games against Houston.
He also made five of his nine three-point attempts, the first time this year when he made more than 38 percent of his long-range shots against the Rockets. We’ll consider Sunday an anomaly, and bettors would be wise to take the under on this combo prop bet.
Houston Rockets SG Jalen Green UNDER 17.5 Points
Houston guard Jalen Green authored perhaps his best regular season thus far, averaging 21.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists for the Rockets. The 6-foot-4 shooting guard is entering his fourth season after being the No. 2 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.
While Green has been great against most other teams, Golden State seemingly has his number. He’s averaging just 12.6 points per outing against the Warriors and did not eclipse his season average in any of these two teams’ five previous contests. Expect him to fall short again against the Warriors, failing to cover this scoring prop bet.
Houston Rockets C Alperen Sengun OVER 10.5 Rebounds
Fourth-year player Alperen Sengun made his playoff debut against the Warriors on Sunday, finishing with 26 points and nine rebounds in his team’s loss. Those numbers are close to his regular season stats as he averaged 19.1 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game in 2024-2025.
In four previous games against Golden State, Sengun had averaged nearly 12 rebounds per contest. The 6-foot-11 center will often be the tallest player on the court, giving him a clear advantage.
Bettors should expect him to finish Wednesday’s game with at least 11 boards – a number he exceeded in his final two games against the Warriors – to cover this rebounding prop wager.
Best Bet: Houston (-3)
Despite having a limited time as a head coach, Houston’s Ime Udoka has established himself as a program builder who can take his squad on deep playoff runs. He led the Boston Celtics to the NBA Finals in 2022 during his first season with the team, losing a six-game series to Golden State that year.
Now with the Rockets, Udoka is experiencing a case of déjà vu. In Sunday’s contest, Curry lit up the scoreboard to spur the Warriors to a 1-0 lead in this best-of-seven series. Expect Udoka to have an answer Wednesday night to his Curry problem – even if it’s only a temporary fix – as the Rockets tie up the series and win by at least four points.
