Houston Rockets vs. Cleveland Cavaliers Prediction, Preview, and Odds
Houston is on a four-game losing streak after being blown out in Memphis 151-114 on Friday, after trailing 83-52 at halftime. Tari Eason led the Rockets with 21 points off the bench, and starters Kevin Porter Jr and Jabari Smith Jr both added 20 points.
Although the Rockets are one of the worst teams in the NBA, this season can still be considered a success towards the future since the Rockets are in a position for a top pick in the next NBA Draft, and the team's top six scorers are between 19 to 22 years old. Jalen Green leads the team with 21.9 ppg, followed by Kevin Porter Jr with 18.6 ppg, and Alperen Sengun with 14.7 ppg and a team-best 8.7 rebounds.
No House Advantage: Bet on player over/unders VS THE HOUSE to 21x your bet OR play in PICK 'EM contests against other people! Click here to get a 1st deposit match up to $100 1st w/ promocode WandW!The Cleveland Cavaliers have won five of their last six games and have clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2018. Last season the Cavs finished 8th in the East but dropped both Play-In Tournament games. With only seven games left in the regular season for the Cavs, they are three games behind the third-place 76ers, and five games ahead of the Knicks who are fifth.Donovan Mitchell has helped elevate the Cavs this season, averaging a team-best 27.5 ppg and 1.5 spg. Darius Garland did not make the All-Star team this season and may miss out on some recognition due to the arrival of Mithcell, but Garland is still having a strong season averaging 21.4 ppg and 7.8 apg. The frontcourt is led by Evan Mobley (16.3 ppg, 9.0 rpg) and Jarrett Allen (14.3 ppg, 9.9 rpg).
Cleveland is coming off back-to-back wins over the Nets in Brooklyn. On Thursday, Cleveland trailed Brooklyn by eight points with two minutes remaining and by four with 29 seconds left but rallied to win the game 116-114 on a three by Isaac Okoro with less than a second to play.
Best Bets for this Game
Insiders Status:
The Rockets are a mess offensively and it's going to be tough for them to go into Cleveland and score more than 103 points on one of the best defenses in the NBA with motivation. The under has cashed in 17 of the last 22 games when Houston has played a team with a winning record and the under is also 5-1 in the last six meetings between the Cavs and Rockets. Although the Rockets defense has struggled, Cleveland is tied with Dallas for the slowest pace in the NBA, so I don't see them getting more than 120 points in this one. I like the under here, with Cleveland winning 118-103.
