NBA: Houston Rockets vs. San Antonio Spurs Preview, Odds, Prediction

The Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs are at the bottom of the West. What used to be a big-time matchup in the division and the entire conference is not a battle between two of the worst teams, maybe even in the league. The Spurs are in disastrous shape, probably the worst in the league right now, with Gregg Popovich searching for a way to get out of this hole. Right now, that’s looking like a mission impossible, with the Spurs looking hopeless.

Preview

Houston Rockets (7-17, TBA) have two wins in the past three games, which is an encouraging trend for the franchise from Houston. Before listing them, we have to add that the Rockets had a very tough schedule over the past two weeks, traveling all the time through the West and meeting with the best teams in the league.

Following a tight win in Phoenix, when the Rockets won against the Suns, 122-121, Houston lost in San Francisco to the Warriors, 120-101, before beating the 76ers at home, after two overtimes, 132-123. Even though it doesn’t sound logical, the Rockets had more points in the paint than the Sixers, 52-40.

Jalen Green scored 27 points, missing all of his seven threes, Kevin Porter Jr. scored 24, and Tari Eason added 18 off the bench. Jabari Smith Jr. posted a double-double, recording 16 points and 11 boards. Overall, the Rockets were well-balanced on the offensive side of the ball.

San Antonio Spurs (6-18, TBA) lost ten games in a row, entering a massive crisis following a more or less solid start of the season. The Spurs were above .500 at some point, but after that suffered a collapse.

What makes the situation even worse is that the Spurs played a lot of games at home, and that the tough schedule is yet to come. For instance, they have five defeats in a row, and four of them were at the AT&T Center. San Antonio’s defense is among the worst in the league, allowing nearly 121 points and more than 50% of shooting per game.

The most recent matchup was against the Suns, who stuffed 133 points while on the other hand, the Spurs scored only 95. Gregg Popovich’s unit scored just six threes in 31 attempts, allowing 19 on the other side. Keldon Johnson was the best player with 27 points and was the only one worth mentioning.

Head to Head Games

These two franchises are divisional rivals, and they meet four times a year. This is the first this season, and the result in the previous campaign was 3-1 in favor of the Spurs, who triumphed both times in the Rocket City.

Prediction

Even though both of these units are near the bottom and, for many, look the same, our pick here is the Rockets. Their current shape is solid, with them having five wins and losses in the past ten events, opposite to the 0-10 of the Spurs. The home-court edge won’t play too big of a role, as simply the Spurs are terrible. Therefore we go with the Rockets to win. Also, a prop pick would be Green to drop 30+ points.

Pick: Rockets win