The Denver Nuggets travel to Space City to take on the Houston Rockets in a battle of Western Conference heavyweights on Thursday at the Toyota Center in Houston.
The Nuggets virtually clinched 2nd spot with a 95-92 win over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night. Denver’s victory was coupled with the Rockets’ 94-108 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks and that put the Nuggets almost unreachable at four games up of the Rockets. Denver has nine games on their schedule while the Rockets have seven.
Nuggets
-175
Rockets
+210
Odds from bodog as of 3/28/19
The Rockets may have to settle for #3 but that doesn’t mean that this game is a no-nearing contest to them. Houston leads their season series 2-1 and a win on Thursday clinches an all-important win that will give them the home court edge if the Rockets, by any stroke of luck, can at least tie the Nuggets’ record at the end of the regular season. It will also give them the momentum and mental edge over Denver with both teams slated to face each other in Round 2 if all goes well in the opening round.
Who Wins?
The Nuggets are 8-2 SU in their last 10 games played. Denver is 4-2 SU in their last six games played on the road. The Rockets are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games played. Houston is 4-1 SU in their last five games at home. Head to head, the Rockets are 9-1 SU in their last 10 games against the Nuggets. Houston is also 5-0 SU in their last five home games against Denver.
🎉 IT'S A CELEBRATION 🎊#MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/mDcL2GuR7R
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) March 19, 2019
The Rockets lead their season series 2-1 but the Nuggets won their last meeting 136-122 in Denver. Denver is 19-17 SU on the road this season while Houston is 27-10 SU at home this season. The last time Houston lost back to back games was on Feb 14 and 22, games before and after the All-Star break. Houston has been on a roll. They’ve experienced humps along the way but they’ve lost just once since the break and that was a 104-106 defeat to the Warriors. I’m picking the Houston Rockets to beat the Denver Nuggets on 3/28/19.
Other Bets To Make
Denver is 4-6 ATS in their last 10 games played. The Nuggets are 3-3 ATS in their last six games on the road. Houston is 4-5-1 ATS in their last 10 games played. The Rockets are 2-2-1 ATS in their last five home games. Head to head, the Rockets are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games played.
Nuggets
+5 (-110)
Rockets
-5 (-110)
Odds from betonline as of 3/28/19
The Nuggets are 7-20 in their last 27 games against Southwest Division teams, 2-6 ATS in their last eight games after an SU win and 2-5 ATS in their last seven games overall. The 4-1-2 ATS in their last seven games after an ATS loss, 3-1-1 ATS in their last five games after allowing more than 100 points in their previous game and 3-1-1 ATS in their last five games when playing on one day rest. The Rockets struggled in their last game and lost but that hasn’t happened a lot lately and won’t be the case here, especially when the stakes are higher and the game is played in Houston. Prediction: Rockets -5
The under is 8-2 in the Nuggets’ last 10 games played. The total has gone under in five out of the last six road games played by Denver. The Rockets have also seen the total go under in eight out of their last 10 games played. The under is 4-1 in Houston’s last five home games..
Nuggets
O 218 -110
Rockets
U 218 -110
Odds from betonline as of 3/28/19
The under is 10-1 in the Nuggets’ last 11 after an SU win and 4-0 in their last four games against Southwest Division opponents. The total has also gone under in eight out of the last nine games of Houston against their Western Conference rivals. The under is also 4-0 in Houston’s last four home games. Their individual trends point to the under but head to head, the over is 6-4 in their last 10 meetings and 4-1 in their last five, I’m expecting Harden to break out of his mini-slump and lead Houston to a high-scoring affair. Prediction: Over