The Houston Rockets were supposed to be the biggest threats to the Golden State Warriors’ reign in the NBA. However, 25 games into the season and one can already say that the once-promising Rockets flopped big time.
Mike D’Antoni and the Rockets failed to live up to the high expectations that came along with their near upset of the Warriors in the 2017-18 Western Conference Finals. Now, they are the second-worst team in the conference, only ahead of the ever lowly Phoenix Suns.
Houston still have a chance to turn things around. Besides, the experience they had in their incredible run last year counts for something. Nonetheless, they already have their work cut out for them as they face the Portland Trail Blazers before taking on no.5 Los Angeles Lakers and no.6 Memphis Grizzlies.
On the other Wednesday games, the Suns play the San Antonio Spurs in a West battle while the East-leading Toronto Raptors visit the Staples Center to face the Clippers.
Portland Trail Blazers @ Houston Rockets (December 12, 09:00 GMT+8)
After a 4-7 start to the season that forced them to part ways with Carmelo Anthony, the Rockets appeared to be on the rise again when they won five straight in mid-November.
However, that success was short-lived as Houston followed it up with four straight losses before winning back-to-back games against the Chicago Bulls and the San Antonio Spurs. Now, they lost their last three, the latest against the Dallas Mavericks when they collapsed in the final three minutes of play.
Defence continues to be the problem for the Rockets, and it’s alarming that they rank in the bottom six when it comes to that department.
While they remain a top-seven team offensively, they can no longer close out games like they did last year because of their porous defence. In fact, they lost by double digits in two of their past three defeats.
D’Antoni is reportedly looking to try something new in his lineup, totally abandoning defence and focusing just on offence by using Eric Gordon at the three-spot alongside Chris Paul and James Harden.
It’s yet to be seen if Houston will really do that and if it will work, but they have to try against a Portland team that also boasts one of the best attacking units in the league. Fight fire with fire.
Damian Lillard and C.J McCollum are averaging 20-plus points each, while Jusuf Nurkic and Evan Turner have been providing some offensive boost to keep the Blazers in contention for a playoff spot in the wild West.
Betting Tip: Portland Trail Blazers +6.00 @ 2.06.
Phoenix Suns @ San Antonio Spurs (December 12, 09:30 GMT+8)
Truth be told, the only question here is by how many points the Spurs will defeat the Suns.
The Suns are the worst team in the league, and the NBA 2018 odds at SBOBET point to an easy win for the Spurs—even if coach Gregg Popovich’s side has been up and down this year.
It shouldn’t help Phoenix that they will be without star guard Devin Booker who is out indefinitely with a hamstring issue. Booker is averaging a team-best 23.5 points to go along with 6.7 assists and 1.2 steals, also team highs.
As rookie centre Deandre Ayton said after their loss to the Blazers last week, Phoenix seem to be content with losing as proven by their overall lack of energy and desire to win.
San Antonio have won two in a row now, and DeMar DeRozan, LaMarcus Aldridge and Rudy Gay are building confidence and instilling belief that they can return to Western relevance.
Betting Tip: San Antonio Spurs Asian Handicap -12.50 @ 1.96.
Toronto Raptors @ LA Clippers (December 12, 11:30 GMT+8)
The Raptors have lost two straight matches for only the second time this year, and they will be motivated to end that skid when they play the Clippers who just returned to their winning ways.
Toronto are coming off a defeat against the Milwaukee Bucks in one of the shocking NBA 2018 results of the week. Kawhi Leonard played in the game, but the Canada-based team fell to the Bucks who got a 19-19 performance from the Greek Freak, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Nick Nurse and Co. will be confident knowing for a fact that they are the best road team in the league, but it’s interesting to note that the Clippers are among the franchises with the best home record.
It’s also some sort of morale booster for the Clippers that top-scorer Tobias Harris was recently named Western Conference Player of the Month for October and November.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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