Tip-off: Thursday, 10:30 p.m. ET
Line: Golden State -11, Total: 231

The Rockets and Warriors get together in the Bay for a three-point shootout.

The Rockets had a two-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday night in a 120-101 road loss to the Jazz (PK). The Rockets are now second in the Southwest Division at 11-7 on the year (12-6 ATS) and fourth in a tight Western Conference. The Jazz beat them at their own game, making 15 of 28 three point attempts (53.6 percent) while the Rockets shot 11 of 30 from deep (36.7 percent). The Jazz had 23 assists as a team to Houston’s 14. The Rockets have a big game tonight, staying on the road for the Thursday national TV late slot against the Warriors. Golden State is riding a 12-game win streak and is 16-2 on the year (9-8-1 ATS). They have the best record in the league and have a 1.5-game lead on the Spurs for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. They trailed entering the fourth quarter of their most recent win, but came back to take down Atlanta 105-100 at home on Monday night. The Warriors were out-rebounded 62 to 50 but held the Hawks to 7 of 29 shooting from three (24.1 percent). In the last five seasons, road teams that have allowed 100 or more points in four straight games (HOU) are 47-21 ATS against teams that won their last game by six points or fewer. In the same time span, home teams that have a winning record and gone Under the total by 30 or more points in their last three games combined (GSW) are 34-9 Under when the total is 210 or higher. C Nene (Rest) is expected to sit Thursday night for the Rockets.

New Houston head coach Mike D’Antonio has turned loose his star player, SG James Harden (28.7 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 11.9 APG, 1.3 SPG), this season, and opponents are paying the price. Harden is basically playing as a point guard, and he’s leading the entire league in assists and is up considerably from his previous career high of 7.5 APG last year. He’s also second among all shooting guards in the NBA in rebounds per game. He’s still incredibly effective at getting to the foul line, as he’s third in the league with 10.1 FTA per game. Harden is shooting 37.0 percent from deep on 8.0 attempts per game. The leading scorer in his supporting cast is SG Eric Gordon (16.0 PPG), who’s new to the Rockets this year. He’s been hot lately: he scored 24 points against the Jazz, his second straight game scoring at least 24 and his third all season. C Clint Capela (12.2 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 1.9 BPG) has shown tremendous growth in his third season in the league. He scored a career-high 21 points on 9 of 12 shooting against the Blazers on Sunday, and he’s third in the league with a .625 field goal percentage and seventh in blocks per game. SF Trevor Ariza (12.4 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 2.0 SPG) provides shooting and defense on the wing, while PF Ryan Anderson (12.3 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 41.3 3P%) provides pretty much exclusively shooting. PG Patrick Beverley (7.0 PPG 4.3 RPG 3.9 APG) is back in the starting lineup after missing the beginning of the season. He’ll likely check Curry in this one, and should be able to get under his skin.

Thanks to the unreal expectations they carried entering the year and their most-watched game being a season-opening blowout loss to the Spurs, the Warriors are likely in the midst of the quietest 16-2 start of all time. The addition of SF Kevin Durant (27.1 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 4.7 APG, 1.6 SPG, 1.61 BPG), the biggest free agency acquisition since either of LeBron James’ past two team changes, could not be going better. Saying that he’s seventh in the league in scoring does not begin to tell the full story. He has been efficient on a historic level: He’s shooting 57.0 percent from the field, better than any of the league’s other top 60 scorers. In fact, he’s one of only one of six players in those 60 to be averaging over 50 percent shooting. He’s also shooting 44.2 percent from deep, good for 12th best in the NBA. Only two players ranked ahead of him have attempted from threes than him. PG Stephen Curry (26.6 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 5.9 APG, 1.4 SPG) has been a minor story this year compared to the explosions of players like Harden and Russell Westbrook, but he still makes a strong argument as best player in the league. He easily leagues the league with 10 three-point attempts per game, and is still deadly accurate at 42.1 percent. SG Klay Thompson (20.7 PPG) has started to heat up after a cold start to the year, as he has scored at least 20 points in six of his last seven games. PF Draymond Green (10.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 6.9 APG, 2.1 SPG, 1.8 BPG) leads the team in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.