The Cleveland Cavaliers head to Space City to take on the Houston Rockets on Friday January 11, 2019 at the latter’s Toyota Center.
The Cavaliers have the NBA’s worst record right now while Houston is starting making its move to the top of the standings. Surprisingly however, the Cavs beat the Rockets in Cleveland 117-108 in their first meeting of the season.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are stuck at the bottom of the team standings right now because they can’t buy a victory. Cleveland has lost 11 games in a row and with the Cavs on a six game west road trip, the losing might continue for a while. At 8-34 right now, the Cavs find themselves 11 games outside a playoff spot and 2 games behind fellow cellar-dwellers New York and Chicago.
The Cavaliers are the third lowest scoring team in the league at 102.5 points per game. Cleveland’s 20.2 assists per game average ranks next to last in the entire NBA. The Cavaliers are 25th in rebounding at 42.2 boards per contest and 23rd in scoring defense at 113.0 points per game allowed.
Cleveland Cavaliers vs Houston Rockets 1/11/19
Moneyline Odds: Cavaliers +900, Rockets -1500
Odds from bet365 as of 1/11/19
The Houston Rockets were playing out of this world basketball and won six games in a row but after losing to the Milwaukee Bucks in their most recent game, the Rockets now have lost two out of their last three games. The loss to the Bucks also snapped Houston’s 10-game home winning streak and with the competition getting stiffer in the West, the Rockets hope to get back on track with a win on Friday.
The Rockets rank 17th in the league in scoring at 110.6 points per game. Houston is also 13th in scoring defense as they allow their opponents to score 109.3 points per game. However, they are only 26th in the NBA in rebounding at 42.1 boards per contest and 28th in passing at 21.2 assists per game.
The Cavaliers are 0-10 SU in their last 10 games played. Cleveland is also 0-5 SU in their last five road games. The Rockets are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games played. The Rockets are 5-1 SU in their last six home games played. Head to head, the Rockets are 7-3 SU in their last 10 meetings against the Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers are still missing Kevin Love who recently indicated that he probably won’t be back until after the All-Star break. They will also be without Rodney Hood who is out with an Achilles injury and Larry Nance Jr. who hurt his knee in their recent game against the Pacers.
Houston too is not without injured players. Eric Gordon is out with soreness in his right knee while Chris Paul isn’t going to be back until at least two weeks. However, while Cleveland is terribly missing their injured players, the Rockets have hardly felt the absence of Gordon and Paul lately with James Harden playing out of this world and supporting cast Austin Rivers, Gerald Green and Danuel House stepping up.
The Rockets have won three out of their last four games against the Cavaliers and given the Cavs’ injury woes and the fact that the Rockets are playing extremely well right now, I’m not sure how the Cavs are going to pull-off a victory here.
We’re picking the Houston Rockets to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on 1/11/19.
The Cavaliers are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games and 2-3 ATS in their last five road games. The Rockets are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games played and Houston is 5-1 ATS in their last six home games played. Head to head, the Cavs are 3-1 ATS in their last 10 meetings against the Rockets.
Cleveland Cavaliers vs Houston Rockets 1/11/19
Spread Odds: Cavaliers +14.5 (-109), Rockets -14.5 (-109
Odds from gtbets.eu as of 1/11/19
The Cavs are 1-4 ATS in their last five games after allowing 100 or more points in their previous game. They are also 1-6 ATS in their last seven games after scoring 100 or more points in their previous game. Cleveland is also 0-4 ATS in their last four games when playing on one-day rest and 0-6 ATS in their last six Friday games. Meanwhile, the Rockets are 8-2-1 in their last 11 games when playing on one-day rest and Houston is 12-3-1 in their last 16 games played at home. Houston is on a roll right not although they’ve lost a couple of games lately. But the Cavs? Any how you look at them, they just can’t seem to win.
Prediction: Rockets -14.5
The total has gone over in eight out of the last 10 games played by the Cavaliers. The over is 3-2 in their last five road games played. The under is 5-4-1 in the Rockets’ last 10 games played. Houston has seen the over hit in half of their last six home games. Head to head, the over is 2-1 in the last three games between these two teams.
Cleveland Cavaliers vs Houston Rockets 1/11/19
Over/Under Odds: Over 217.5, Under 217.5
Odds from gtbets.eu as of 1/11/19
The Rockets are averaging 115.44 points per game in their last nine games played while the Cavaliers have allowed 125 points per game while losing by an average margin of 22 points in their last five losses. The over is 8-2 in the Rockets’ last 10 games against Eastern Conference teams and given the way Cleveland is losing games lately, 218 should be easy picking for these two teams on Friday night.
Prediction: over 217.5
The Miami Heat look to take a 2-0 series lead against the Milwaukee Bucks in…
The New York Mets head to Yankee Stadium to open a three-game series against the…
The Minnesota Twins play Game 2 of a three-game set against the New York Yankees…
The OKC Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans meet at the Smoothie King Center on Wednesday…
The No.8 Atlanta Hawks visit the No. 7 Miami Heat in the first play-in tournament…
The OKC Thunder visit the Utah Jazz at the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt…