Houston Rockets @  Minnesota Timberwolves

The Rockets suffered last night a brutal loss in Chicago. They lost 102-105 in a game where they were outscored 14-34 in the fourth quarter blowing up a 17 point lead. In fact they were outscored 23-3 in the final 5' minutes, never stopping the Bulls again in the 11 possession after the Rockets took a 99-82 lead with 5:51 remaining. Naturally this team will be fired up for today to make a bounce back. The big problem of yesterday loss was that Yao Ming didn't touch the ball down the stretch, he took just one second-half shot, none in the fourth quarter and the Rockets were a mere jump shooting team.

Today they will face Minnesota who is struggling right now. Despite the fact that this isn't a good for spot for the Rockets as this is a back to back game, the Rockets are 5-1 ATS (3-0 ATS on the road) in back to back games after a loss, this tell us that they fared well after a loss. The Wolves are 1-9 L10 games and 0-5 L5 games, without Al Jefferson they don't have any reliable scorer and facing top teams who are hungry they didn't have any chance. Just look for what happened last game against the Blazers, they were 4.5 (what a pathetic line by the way) points underdogs just to be spanked at home by 20 points. Note that the Blazers were coming from back to back losses vs Rockets and Spurs and they wanted badly to win, the same thing can be said from the Rockets tonight.

Coach Kevin McHale in an effort to improve his team's interior defense started Jason Collins at center against Portland. The Wolves likely will go with the same lineup tonight against 7-foot-6 Yao Ming. Collins shouldn't be in the NBA and facing Yao Ming will be too much for him and the Wolves especially taking in account that the Rockets will play more for Yao today.

This is the third game between these 2 teams and the Rockets are 2-0 in the series. They won by 17 at home and by 7 in Minnesota. The curious factor is that Al Jefferson made 34 points (15-21), 13 rebounds and 36 points (16-30 FG), 22 rebounds and still the Wolves couldn't be competitive in those games. How can they be competitive tonight without Al Jefferson and facing a team who wants to make a bounce back after a terrible loss last night? The Wolves are 4-15 ATS as a home underdog this season and I think the Rockets will win this game by at least 8 points. Take the Rockets in here.

Regular Play on  Houston Rockets (-5.5) 

I'm coming from another winning day, the fourth in a row. For today I have three plays on my card including my Game of the Week, and possibly another pick will be added. Good Luck! 

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