Houston Rockets vs Portland Trail Blazers NBA Betting Odds, Preview and Prediction

The Houston Rockets meet the Portland Trail Blazers in the last game of the NBA’s August 4, 2020 schedule in Orlando.

The Rockets have picked up two straight wins to begin their campaign in the bubble tournament. On Sunday, Houston defeated the NBA’s top team in the Milwaukee Bucks to move to within one game of the third-seeded Denver Nuggets. On the other hand, the Blazers are coming off a loss to the Boston Celtics. Portland is 1-1 in two games so far in Orlando and they are 2.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the 8th seed in the Western Conference.

Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets are off to a good start in the NBA’s bubble tournament. The Rockets are 2-0 in the restart with wins over the Dallas Mavericks and Milwaukee Bucks. Houston rallied in the 4th period of both games before winning the contest. In their last outing, the Bucks came from 8 points down in the final three minutes of play to beat the NBA’s top team 120-116. The win pushed them to within one game of the third-placed Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference standings with a record of 42-24.

Russell Westbrook posted his 36th 20-point game with 31 points while also grabbing six rebounds and issuing eight assists. James Harden scored 24 points after putting up 49 against the Mavericks on Friday night. The Rockets also got 16 points from Danuel House Jr. who is averaging 18.0 points per game in the restart. The Rockets attempted 61 three-pointers against the Bucks, setting an NBA record for a regulation game.

The small-ball Rockets were outrebounded 69-43 by the league’s best rebounding team and were outscored 60-20 in points in the paint but they forced a total of 23 turnovers while making 12 more three-pointers and 10 more free throws. The Rockets also forced a total of 15 steals to pick up their second straight win of the reboot. Houston is 24th in scoring defense at 114.9 points per game conceded and are next to last in passing at 21.6 assists per game.

Portland Trail Blazers

Clutch time has always been Dame Time for Portland but on Sunday night, Damian Lillard passed up on a possible game-tying three-pointer in favor of a pass for a Jusuf Nurkic layup with 3.1 seconds left to play. That decision enabled the Boston Celtics to escape with a 128-124 win over the Blazers, dealing Portland their first loss of the restart. The Blazers are now 30-38 on the season and they are 2.5 games behind the 8th seeded Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference team standings.

Lillard has a big night with 30 points and 16 assists while big man Jusuf Nurkic scored 30 points in his second game back after missing the Blazers’ previous games of the 2020 season. C.J. McCollum shot just 7-17 from the floor while Carmelo Anthony shot just 5-14 while putting up 13 points. Gary Trent Jr. continued his strong play in Orlando with 21 points on Sunday.

The Blazers committed a total of 25 fouls and gave up 18 more free throws which Boston converted to 11 more points. Their defense also allowed the Celtics to shoot 60% from the three-point area and 54.5% from the floor. Portland forced more turnovers 14-12 but the Celtics outscored them 22-10 in points off turnovers. Boston also ran the break better, outscoring Portland 17-6 in fastbreak points. The Blazers rank 26th in scoring defense at 115.7 points per game allowed and they are last in passing with 20.5 assists per game.

Who Wins?

Houston is 9-4 SU in their last 13 games played. The Rockets are 5-1 SU in their last six games against the Western Conference, and 4-1 SU in their last five Tuesday games. Portland is 4-6 SU in their last 10 games played. The Blazers are 1-4 SU in their last five games played on the road, and 3-8 SU in their last 11 Tuesday games. Head to head, the Blazers are 4-2 SU in their last six games played against the Rockets.

The Rockets are off to a hot start in the bubble. Although they flirted with disaster in their first two games played, they finished both games strong and came from behind to win both games. The Blazers are 1-1 to start the year and although they gave the Boston Celtics all that they could handle, Portland’s defense has been nearly non-existent as they have conceded 135 and 128 points, respectively. The lack of defense will be a problem against the Rockets who are coming off a game where they shot 61 three-pointers. This team has plenty of good shooters and with their starting backcourt cooking right now, Portland will not outscore these Rockets. I’ll lay the chalk with Houston here.

Prediction: Houston Rockets (-200)

Other Bets to Make

The Rockets are 2-5 ATS in their last seven games played. Houston is 1-2-1 ATS in their last four games played on the road, and 0-4-1 ATS in their last five games played against Portland on the road. Portland is 5-4-1 ATS in their last 10 games played. The Blazers are 2-2-1 ATS in their last five games played on the road, and 4-8 ATS in their last 12 games played against the Western Conference. Head to head, the Blazers are 6-3-1 ATS in their last 10 games played against the Rockets.

Portland hasn’t played well against the Southwest Division as they are 4-8 ATS in their last dozen games against them. Portland has shown that it could score despite playing without Ariza and Hood but they won’t be able to outscore these fast and quick shooting Rockets. The Rockets will win a wild west shootout here. Unless Portland starts defending, this could get ugly very fast.

Prediction: Rockets -5 (-110)

The total has gone under in four out of the last six games played by the Rockets. The under is 6-3 in the last nine games of the Rockets on the road. The total has also hit the under in four out of Houston’s last five games against the Northwest Division. The total has gone over in four out of the last five games played by the Blazers. The over is 4-1 in Portland’s last five road games, and 10-2 in their last 12 games against the Western Conference. Head to head, the total has gone under in six out of the last seven games between these two teams.

These teams have combined to score an average of 220.5 points per game in their last 10 meetings and 233.67 points per game in their last three head to head meetings. The over is 4-1 in Portland’s last five games and 10 out of their last 12 games against the Western Conference. The Rockets have seen the total hit the over in each of their first two seeding games. With the way Houston is shooting and making three-pointers, these teams should hit the over. 244 is a pretty high total but with the way Portland has been defending, I’m gonna have to go with the over.

Prediction: Over 244 (-110)

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