Good Morning PreGamers!
NBA Sunday - Rockets @ Clippers
The Houston Rockets finish up a 4 game road trip on Sunday as they travel to LA to take on the Clippers live on ABC. Situationally, I really like these national TV games as the ‘Betting Public’ tends to manipulate the lines to an extent that we as the ‘Sharp Bettor’ can take advantage of any inflated / deflated numbers.
Houston is coming off 2 straight defeats and hasn’t dropped more than 2 straight contests all season. The Rockets travelled to Utah last Thursday as 2-point favorites and ended up losing that game 109-91. They were in a back-to-back situation for the game in Utah as they played on Wednesday in Portland losing in a 105-100 decision. The Rockets are a perfect 5-0 SU and ATS in their last 5 games following 2 straight losses.
The Los Angeles Clippers have gone 5-5 in their last 10 games and are coming off a Blow-out road loss to Dallas on Friday. Blake Griffin has sat out LA’s last 15 games after having surgery to remove staph infection from his right elbow and the Clippers have gone 9-6 SU and 8-6 ATS in those games. There has been talk that Griffin could return on Sunday but he is currently listed as ‘Questionable’. I hope Griffin does return for this game as this would really make Houston an even greater ‘Value’ Play.
The last time these two teams played each other was on February 25th at Houston which saw the Rockets winning 110-105. Kevin McHale is one of the best coaches in the NBA and good coaches really know how to get their team prepared to correct mistakes and rebound from defeats. Houston is 10-3 ATS in their last 13 games following a loss and 9-2 ATS following a loss by more than 10 points. I’ll take the road team in this one as I believe the ‘Public’ will be all over the Clippers (Especially if Blake Griffin returns) and the value is on the Rockets plus the points.
Houston Rockets + 3.5
GL
Jonathan Young