The Houston Rockets will play the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night in Game 2 of their NBA Playoffs 2015 series, and it is the Warriors who have the upper hand after their win in Game 1. They will be looking to make home court advantage count tonight to try and move to 2-0 and gain a strong grip on this series before things move to Houston for Game 3.
Tonight's big game between the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors has a scheduled start time of 9 p.m. ET and takes place from the ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. The game will be available to watch on TV on the ESPN network, or online through live stream via the link provided below.
As this Western Conference Final continues with Game 2 tonight, much of the talk ahead of the game is about Dwight Howard and whether he will be fit enough to make an impact with his sprained left knee. However, despite Howard carrying the knock, he look set to start tonight and try and help his team avoid getting into deep trouble by going 0-2.
James Harden has said about Howard, "We've been through it this year. Those guys are ready to come in and contribute. Hopefully, big fella can get his body healthy and can go out there and help us."
There was panic among the Rockets faithful as Howard sat out of practice on Wednesday, and rumors swirled that he might not be fit enough to make it for Game 2. An MRI scan confirmed his injury to further spark doubts.
However, on Thursday morning he joined about 50 percent of the Houston practice, giving a positive indication of his participation tonight. Although reports stated that his left knee was heavily covered with a black brace during the practice, and also that he mainly worked on his post-up game, and did next to no running.
Howard himself has said, "It feels pretty good. Hopefully, it feels a lot better tonight. I believe that it's going to be healed. I'm not going to try to worry about it too much. I'm going to try to prepare for tonight."
With or without Howard at 100 percent, the Rockets must find a way to negate the threat posed by Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. The Warriors managed to comeback from 16 points down in the second quarter of Game 1 to rally and win 110-106; a major disappointment for Houston considering the position they were initially in.
Howard should be in the starting line up if preparations continue to go well tonight, however, if a last minute fitness check determines that he cannot play, it is likely that rookie Clint Capela will step in to fill his boots.
Tonight's big Game 2 between the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors has a start time of 9 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the ESPN network, or online through live stream by clicking here.
