Houston Rockets at Denver Nuggets 12/28/20: NBA Basketball free preview, analysis, prediction, odds and pick against the spread.
2020-12-28 21:00:00 EDT
The Denver Nuggets play host to the Houston Rockets at the Ball Arena on Monday night.
The Houston Rockets will be hoping to bounce back after falling painfully short against the Trailblazers in a 128-126 overtime loss on Saturday. James Harden led the team with 44 points and 17 assists, Christian Wood added 31 points with 13 rebounds and three assists while Jae’sean Tate added 13 points off the bench. As a team, the Rockets shot 51 percent from the field and 11 of 35 from the 3-point line as they set the tone with 68 points in the first half to lead for most of the game, but despite holding the lead in the final seconds of overtime, they couldn’t stop the Trailblazers’ CJ McCollum who drained the game-winning 3-pointer with just 6.9 seconds left on the clock.
Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets will be hoping to avoid a third straight defeat to start the season after getting rolled by the Clippers in a 121-108 home loss on Friday. Nikola Jokic led the team with 24 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists, Jamal Murray added 23 points on nine of 20 shooting while Will Barton chipped in with 15 points off the bench. As a team, the Nuggets shot 45 percent from the field and 11 of 36 from the 3-point line as they were always fighting an uphill battle after poor defense in the first half saw them trailing by 17 points going into halftime.
Looking at the betting trends, the Rockets 2-6 ATS in their last eight road games, 2-6 ATS in their last eight games against a team with a losing record and 1-4 ATS in their last five games overall. The Nuggets are 1-5 ATS in their last six games against a team with a losing record, 4-0 ATS in their last four games following a loss of more than 10 points and 0-3-1 ATS in their last four games overall.
Head to head, the Rockets are 8-3 ATS in the last 11 meetings overall.
The Rockets had already had to endure so much drama as a team and they will be gutted that they weren’t able to get the win over the Trailblazers, but with Harden balling like he is, they’re still a competitive team capable of beating anyone. The Nuggets haven’t looked like themselves in their first two games of the season, but at least Murray is starting to look better after a terrible performance in the season opener. I think the Nuggets should be good enough to get the home win against the shorthanded Rockets, but this just feels like too many free points. I’m taking the Rockets with the points in this one.
