With the Houston Rockets’ hopes of chasing the third seed in the Western Conference standings slipping away, Coach Kevin McHale’s boys will try to garner a road victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night.
Read on for everything you need to get into the action with bets on this high-octane game.
Houston Rockets vs. Brooklyn Nets Betting Preview
When: April 1, 2014, Tuesday, 8:00PM EST
Where: Barclays Center, New York
Betting on the Brooklyn Nets
[sc:NBA240banner ]Since the calendar flipped to 2014, the Nets have been the best team in the Eastern Conference, boasting a 29-12 record dating back to January 1st. Brooklyn also has the third-best home record in their conference this season, having won 25 out of 36 contests at the Barclays Center.
The Nets’ last four games at home and eight overall have gone over the total.
Pacing the Nets of late has been Paul Pierce. Pierce has been coming out hot in his last two games, shooting a combined 10 for 10, including 8 for 8 from downtown in the opening quarters of the last two games. Ridiculous. For the Rockets to to handle the Nets in this one, they will need to make life tougher for Pierce from the opening tip.
Betting on the Houston Rockets
Meanwhile, the Rockets will most likely be without Dwight Howard, who is still nursing an ankle ailment. While that should be a major issue for the Rockets, they’ve in fact been fine without Howard, going 5-1 without their star big man. Houston also recently lost their starting point guard, Patrick Beverly, to a knee injury.
Although Houston will likely miss their starting point guard and center, they still have quality back-ups in Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik, both of whom were part of the starting unit last year, to fill the voids. James Harden, Chandler Parsons, and the rest of the team are–even without Howard and Beverly–a strong scoring team who will cause problems for Brooklyn inside, particularly with Kevin Garnett still out with back spasms.
The last time both clubs went toe to toe on November 29 in Houston, the Rockets utterly dominated the Nets, 114-95, despite Harden scoring just nine points on 1-of-4 shooting. Still, the times have changed. For Houston to pull off the victory in this one, they will need more from Harden in addition to significant contributions from their bench.
The Rockets have covered the spread in each of their last three meetings with Brooklyn.
Prediction
When at home, the Nets have been an elite team in the NBA, going 25-11. Without Howard and Beverly, the Rockets may not be. It will likely be a close affair, but expect Brooklyn to pull out the W.
