The Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Clippers collide at the Crypto.com Arena on Thursday night.
The Houston Rockets have been in a major slump as they’ve lost 10 of their past 11 games overall and they will be hoping to arret a six-game slide after coming up painfully short to the Suns in a 124-121 road loss last night. Dennis Schroder led the team with 23 points and nine assists, Jae’Sean Tate added 22 points with 10 rebounds on seven of nine shooting while Eric Gordon chipped in with 20 points. As a team, the Rockets shot just 43 percent from the field and 13 of 44 from the 3-point line as they poured in 67 points in the first half to lead by as many as 12 points, before getting run down in the fourth quarter where the Suns opened with a 20-6 run to take the game away from them. Joshua Christopher had a night to forget as he finished with just two points on one of eight shooting off the bench.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Clippers have been in a rut as they’ve lost four of their past six games overall and they will be hoping to bounce back after getting stopped by the Suns in a 103-96 road loss on Tuesday. Marcus Morris led the team in scoring with 23 points on 10 of 17 shooting, Nicolas Batum added 18 points, Reggie Jackson scored 14 points while Ivica Zubac chipped in with 12 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. As a team, the Clippers shot just 41 percent from the field and 10 of 35 from the 3-point line as they did enough to hang around, but not get over the hump against the Suns who were just a little more efficient the entire night. Jackson shot just seven of 26 from the field and zero of eight from the 3-point line, Terance Mann shot just one of six for his two points while Amir Coffey scored just six points on two of seven shooting off the bench.
Looking at the betting trends, the Rockets are 0-5 ATS in their last five games playing on zero days’ rest, 14-37 ATS in their last 51 games against a team with a losing record and 6-20 ATS in their last 26 games overall. The Clippers are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games against a team below .400 and 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games playing on one days’ rest.
Head to head, the over is 7-3 in the last 10 meetings overall and the Rockets are 6-2 ATS in the last eight meetings overall.
The Rockets could be shorthanded once again as Christian Wood and Kevin Porter Jr have been ruled out, while the Clippers will again be missing Norman Powell for this one. The Rockets really put up a good showing of themselves against the red-hot Suns last night, but it’s going to be tough to replicate that effort on zero days’ rest, especially while missing two of their best players. The Clippers have really been banged up all season and they too after coming off a narrow loss to the Suns, but the line just seems too hefty for this matchup as the Clippers have been struggling lately. With that being said, the Rockets are 6-2 ATS in the last eight meetings overall and I think they can keep this one to single digits.