NBA Betting Preview: Houston Rockets at Portland Trail Blazers
Posted:April 3, 2008
By
SBGGlobal
Opening Line: Suns - 5.5 , Total 236
The Houston Rockets are fading fast and will try and stop the skid on Thursday at Portland. The Rockets have lost the first two games of their road trip and are now in sixth place in the Western Conference. They need to finish fourth to secure home court advantage in the first round. "We need to make it up somehow," Rockets point guard Rafer Alston said. "We need to get wins just to stay afloat. We have only like eight games left. They are all important." SBG Global reports that early NBA betting has the public taking Rockets on the Road.
The Rockets are 2 1/2 games behind the New Orleans Hornets and the San Antonio Spurs for the best record in the West. The Rockets only trail the Lakers by a game for the third spot. The bad news for the Rockets is that they are not playing well. Over the past eight games, the Rockets are allowing 100.8 points. "It seems like we are not defending with any sense of urgency," Alston said. "The last two games, teams are just carving us up on defense. Once we start defending, then we can worry about the offense." If the Rockets want to play at home during the playoffs they need to start winning immediately. "The seeding is always significant because you'd always much rather play at home than on the road," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "That's just a given. But in the playoffs, I don't think it matters. Whoever you play is probably going to be a team that's won on the road because they've won 50-plus games."
Here are the NBA betting stats for Thursday’s game. The Rockets are 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 vs. the Northwest. The Rockets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a road favorite. The Rockets are 22-8-3 ATS in their last 33 Thursday games. The Rockets are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games. The Rockets are 0-4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
SBG Global Current Line: Rockets - 6.5, Total 182
The Trail Blazers are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games playing on no rest. The Trail Blazers are 21-8 ATS in their last 29 games as a home underdog. The Trail Blazers are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games overall. The Trail Blazers are 3-13 ATS in their last 16 home games. The Trail Blazers are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 vs. the Southwest. The underdog is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings between the two teams.
The Under is 6-0 in the Rockets last 6 vs. the Northwest. The Under is 5-0 in the Rockets last 5 games as a road favorite. The Over is 7-3 in the Rockets last 10 vs. the Western Conference.
The Under is 4-0 in the Trail Blazers last 4 games as an underdog. The Under is 6-2-1 in the Trail Blazers last 9 games playing on no rest. The Under is 31-11 in the Trail Blazers last 42 vs. the Western Conference. The Under is 5-2 in the Trail Blazers last 7 games as a home underdog. The Under is 42-19-1 in the Trail Blazers last 62 vs. the Southwest. The Under is 7-1 in the last 8 meetings between the two teams and the Under is 9-4 in the last 13 meetings in Portland.
PICK: Tbalzers +6.5 4 units. For more NBA Betting discussion visit the
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