The Houston Rockets host the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday hoping to complete their comeback and advance to the Western Conference Finals to face the Golden State Warriors.
Where: Toyota Center, Houston.
When: Sunday May 17, 20:30 (UK time)
Watch live: Click here to watch on BT Sport online!
A win on Sunday will put the Rockets back in the conference finals for the first time since 1997, while the Clippers have never reached that stage in their franchise history.
They had the perfect opportunity to secure their place on Thursday night, but the Rockets outscored them 51-20 to end the third and in the fourth quarter to overcome a 19-point deficit and even up the series after trailing 3-1.
It will be important for the Clippers to regain their focus as they are more than capable of winning on the road in Houston, but now the momentum is with the hosts and it won’t be easy for Doc Rivers to pick his men up after such a disastrous end to the game.
Rockets coach Kevin McHale has insisted that Game 7 should “be fun” as ultimately this is the kind of atmosphere and situation players should want to be in. Having fought back to avoid elimination twice in this series, McHale will undoubtedly feel as though the pressure is still on the Clippers.
What made that comeback even more remarkable was that James Harden spent most of the fourth quarter on the bench due to illness, but it is expected that he will have made a full recovery in time for Sunday’s encounter.
Dwight Howard also played a key role in that game and will look to battle inside with the likes of DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin, and that may well be a key area of the game where it can be won or lost.
Prediction: This is going to be a great game for the neutrals as both teams can score heavily, particularly with Harden and Chris Paul leading the charge. Even though the Clippers kept their nerve against the San Antonio Spurs in a series decider in the last round, the momentum is with the Rockets and you have to favour them. Rockets win.
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