2025 NBA playoffs: No. 7 Warriors favored over No. 2 Rockets in the first round
Golden State is just the second No. 7 seed to be favored in the first round since 1988.
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Don’t call it an upset if the Golden State Warriors take down the Houston Rockets in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
The Warriors are -190 at BetMGM to win the series despite being the No. 7 seed. The Warriors earned that spot by beating the Memphis Grizzlies 121-116 in Tuesday night’s play-in game. Golden State is just the second No. 7 seed to be favored over a No. 2 seed in the first round since 1988 and both high-seed underdogs have happened in the last five seasons. In 2021, the No. 7 Lakers were favored over the No. 2 seed Suns after winning the 2020 NBA title.
Phoenix won that series in six games and went on to the NBA Finals before losing to the Milwaukee Bucks.
The most favored exact outcome in the series is a Warriors win in six games. Betting on a 4-2 Warriors win has odds of +310 and a five-game win is at +450. The Rockets are +160 overall to win the series and the most favored Rockets outcome is a Game 7 win at +500.
Houston enters as an underdog given the team’s relative inexperience in the playoffs. Guard Fred VanVleet is an NBA champion as he won the 2019 Finals with the Toronto Raptors. But this is Houston’s first playoff appearance since 2020 and the first time players like Alperen Sengun, Jalen Green and Amen Thompson have appeared in the playoffs.
Golden State, meanwhile, still has Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. And the Warriors have been exceptional since adding Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat at the trade deadline.
The Warriors won three of the five games the teams played during the regular season, though the Rockets have the most recent win. Houston beat Golden State 106-96 on April 6 and Curry had one of his worst games of the season. He was just 1-of-10 from the field and 1-of-8 from behind the 3-point line as he finished with just three points in nearly 33 minutes.
