NBA Tuesday Betting: Miami Heat at Houston Rockets

Miami at Houston
Time: 8 PM ET, Mar 4, 2014
Spread: MIA -1
Total: 211

Betting odds courtesy of Bovada

All the hype over the last 24 hours has been on LeBron James and his 61 point effort in Miami’s 124-107 win over the lowly Charlotte Bobcats. Now, on the second night of a back-to-back, James will have to focus his efforts on a more difficult opponent. NBA oddsmakers at Bovada are favoring the Heat by just one point over the Houston Rockets.

The Rockets are 40-19 on the season and 23-7 at home this season. The Heat are 19-10 on the road, good for the league’s third-best road record.

Houston defeated Detroit 118-110 on Saturday (Mar 1), as power forward Terrence Jones went for 22 points and 10 boards. Jones has emerged in his second pro season into a valuable rotation player for the Rockets. The Kentucky product is averaging 11.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game while posting a PER of 18.0, which is the third highest on the team behind James Harden and Dwight Howard. Harden has fallen off a little from last season’s point production, but the Rockets are an improved team with more options. The Bearded One is averaging 24.5 points and 5.6 assists per game this season.

A big task for Houston’s Chandler Parsons will be matching up with James. Parsons is capable of playing very good defense, but James has been on fire. Equally important for the Rockets will be keeping Parsons involved offensively so that James can’t catch his breath on “D.” Parsons is averaging 16.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. His two-way impact may be the key to the Rockets pulling a small upset in this game.

MIA Trends: 6-0-2 ATS in last 8 overall; 4-0-1 ATS in last 5 vs teams with home winning percentages greater than .600; 3-0-2 ATS in last 5 following ATS win.

HOU Trends: OVER 5-1 in last 6 vs teams with winning SU record; UNDER 13-3 in last 16 on 2 days rest; 4-1 ATS in last 5 following ATS loss