NBA Pick: Portland Trail Blazers at Houston Rockets
Rockets Try to Curb Portland's Three-Game Winning Streak
The Portland Trail Blazers (22-18 Overall, 12-8 Away) travel to play the Houston Rockets (28-11 Overall, 14-6 Home) tonight, Jan. 10 at 8 p.m. E.T. The Trail Blazers have won three-straight beating Atlanta, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City and are 6-4 for their last 10 games. The Rockets have been struggling, going 3-7 over their past 10 games, winning their most recent contest as they beat Chicago 116-107. Our Portland plays Houston 2018 NBA pick has the Rockets at -6.5 and the over/under at between 216 and 218.
The Trail Blazers and Rockets Matchup
The basic battle involves the Houston offense, which is second in the league in scoring, averaging 114.9 PPG, and the seventh-ranked Portland defense, which is holding teams to 101.9 PPG.
PG Damian Lillard and SG C.J. McCollum make up a large part of the Portland offense, while center Jusuf Nurkic controls the boards. Along with being a solid shooter from just about anywhere, Lilliard, who’s hitting 42% of his shots and 36% of his threes, is also a solid set up man. McCollum is a 45% shooter from the field and 41% from downtown.
Other Factors
Although the Rockets hit 10% fewer of their threes than the Trail Blazers, they take a lot more three and at make 16 per game, while Portland hits nine. At the same time, the Rockets are a better shooting team overall and offer better ball movement. Portland is more astute on the steal. Houston is loaded with double-digit point scorers, including the amazingly productive point guard James Harden (32.3 PPG, 9.1 APG, 45 FG%). Harden is hitting 39% of his threes, as is PG Chris Paul.
Some trends we have noticed include Portland is 11-4-1 ATS in its last 16 games and 4-1 SU in its last 5 games. Also, the total has gone over in 4 of Portland’s last 5 games and the Trail Blazers are 10-2 ATS in its last 12 games on the road. At the same time in their last 10 games, the Rockets are 2-8 ATS, while going 17-7 SU in its last 24 games. In their last six home games, Houston has been 1-5 ATS.
Our Portland Plays Houston 2018 NBA Pick
Portland comes to this game after being Oklahoma City last night. They’ve played three games in five days and won them all. The Rockets come in rested, having last played on Jan. 8. They are at home, which is a pretty good place to be. In our Portland plays Houston 2018 NBA pick, we like Houston at -6.5 and the over at 216.0
Summary Trail Blazers and Rockets Picks- Houston at -6.5 and over 216.0
