Houston Rockets at Portland Trail Blazers
Time: 10:30 PM ET
TV: ESPN
Spread: POR -2
Total: 205
Betting odds c/o Bovada
The Portland Trail Blazers can try to be optimistic. It lost shooting guard Wesley Matthews for the season but added Arron Afflalo at the trade deadline. There is a good replacement.
The problem is that the Blazers now are one man short on a backcourt rotation that needed the bolstering. Even so, live NBA odds showed the Trail Blazers as 2 point favorites at oddsmaker Bovada. The total for the game against the Houston Rockets is set at 205, and for an explanation of how to bet these odds see our NBA odds explained.
Houston and Portland met last postseason and the Trail Blazers won the series 4-2. The Rockets are a slightly different team and have been playing without Dwight Howard for a good stretch now. Donatas Motiejunas is proving to be a very interesting young find, and he had 18 points, six boards and five assists in the Rockets 114-100 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Mar 7. Over his past 10 games, the Lithuanian has averaged 12.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in 27 minutes an night. He’s shooting 36.6 percent from three-point range on the season and over 50 percent from the floor and is basically changing the face of the Rockets with Howard on the shelf.
James Harden continues to produce at an MVP level and is averaging 27 points, seven assists and nearly six boards per game on the season while posting a PER of 27.0. The MVP voting will likely come down between Harden and Russell Westbrook, though the Rockets better record should work in Harden’s favor.
Terrence Jones has stepped up to provide the Rockets with some very strong play recently, too, averaging 15.7 points and 9.6 rebounds, as well as 2.4 blocks, over his past 10 games. He’s frequently looked as though he was one of the steals of the 2012 draft, but his problems with staying on the court have been an issue. He’s appeared in just 20 game this season, but produced well when healthy. In the month of March thus far he is averaging 16 points and 8.6 rebounds per game and that seems to be the level he is capable of playing at. The Rockets benefit from having Jones, recent addition Josh Smith, Motiejunas and when healthy Dwight Howard. That’s a very solid rotation and the Rockets don’t have to fear the loss of Omer Asik like it once did.
Houston has won 7 of its past 9 SU and most recently knocked off Denver and the aforementioned Nuggets. Following tonight’s contest the Rockets will hit a soft patch of schedule with matchups against cellar dwellers like Utah and Orlando, as well as another matchup against the Nuggets on Mar 19. The Clippers will host Houston on Mar 15 on ABC, and that game should be a very good one with both teams tuning up for the postseason as well as jostling for seeding in the playoffs.
The Rockets will try to get out and run in this game because it has the horses to do it and because the Trail Blazers are a team that will have trouble matching it. Trevor Ariza, Corey Brewer, Pat Beverley, Josh Smith and Terrence Jones are all adept at forcing turnovers and the Rockets average 9.59 steals and 4.79 blocks per game. With the total set at 205, it seems precariously high but both teams will likely score over 100 points in this game. The Rockets seem poised to pull the slight upset in this one. Kevin McHale has the team playing inspired defense and Houston is a good 19-11 on the road SU this season.
