Houston Rockets: About that heart transplant.

I've never been more happy to be proven wrong, but right at the same time.

Yup, I said it.

Houston Rockets: The Thing that needs to be said. Me, SLAM

They're done, barring something changing in the mental make-up of this team. They can talk as much as they want about "backs against the wall" and "being back in our house" all they want. Lest we forget the win that they had at home required some of the most curious officiating of the series. Game 1?  Well, it was a blowout as well. I don't see any way this Rockets team beat the Clippers 3 games in a row. Barring a heart transplant that is.

Apparently, they had that transplant completed and it appears that they swapped with the Clippers in games 5, 6 and 7.  It was eerily similar to the Phoenix series in which a totally different Rockets team went and did the same thing.

I'm a firm believer in never saying never. You always leave yourself an out. After game 5 I was still unimpressed, thinking that the Clippers would rise up at home and put us all out of our misery.  Then the unthinkable happened. It was the Clippers who just quit.  And then, in game 7, they quit again.

Meanwhile the Rockets played with heart and drive and did everything they needed to in order to win the series and face the daunting puzzle that is Golden State and Curry.

The opening line on that series is Golden State -850 with the Rockets coming back at +575.

Despite everything that happened in the previous series I think that line is about right. During the regular season the Rockets were not competitive against the Warriors and I'm unsure if they match-up with the 1st seed well enough to ask the questions they need to ask.

All that said, at that value, I like the Rockets pick here.  If they do win however they're going to have to steal one in Sacramento and hold-serve at home. That's a hard task against a team that's looking all the world like the next champions.

Still, the Rockets have a strong beating heart now, that means a lot.