One of the marquee games of the early-season schedule will take place this week when the Houston Rockets host the San Antonio Spurs in a Western Conference showdown. Houston has jumped out to the best record in the NBA, and the advanced metrics back up the great start.
The Rockets are definitely looking like one of the chief contenders to the Golden State Warriors’ throne, while the Spurs stayed above water to begin the year and now have their star player back in the fold. Kawhi Leonard should be good to go for this game, which increases the level of intensity even more.
While Golden State is going to be favored in the playoffs if healthy, these are two teams that can legitimately knock it off. The Rockets are gunning for the top overall seed and would do well to pick up this much-needed home victory.
This war on the floor will go down Friday, December 15, 2017, at 9:30 p.m. ET at Toyota Center. The game will be televised live on ESPN.
We'll have NBA odds at BookMaker.eu available for this and every game on the NBA Friday schedule.
Odds Analysis
The Rockets are 21-4 straight up and 14-11 against the spread this season. They have played in 12 home games and covered in five of them, and have gone 13-10 against the spread as the favorite. Even though Houston is one of the highest-scoring teams in the NBA, they have gone “under” the scoring total more often than “over” because the oddsmakers are well aware of their ability.
The Spurs are 19-9 straight up and 14-13-1 against the spread. San Antonio will likely be the underdog in this game, a role it has only taken on seven times this season. The Spurs have covered in three of those instances. San Antonio is just 4-9 against the spread on the road this season.
Player To Watch
Leonard -- The Spurs’ star small forward missed the first 27 games of the season because of a quadriceps issue, but finally returned in a loss to the Mavericks on Tuesday. Leonard was on a minutes restriction and finished with 13 points in 16 minutes.
He may not be ready to should a full load in this one, but even 20 minutes or so of Leonard would be a big boost. Check to make sure he didn’t suffer any setbacks to the quad against the Mavericks, as he did head to the locker room before the game was over.
Leonard averaged 25.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game a season ago in addition to adding lockdown defense. He has blossomed into one of the best players in the league and would be a great piece to have in order to try to slow down James Harden.
Key Stat
10. That’s the number of wins in a row for the Rockets heading into Wednesday’s matchup with the Pelicans. Houston has been arguably the most impressive team in the NBA in the earlygoing and doesn’t seem like it plans to fall off.
Harden has been fantastic, averaging 32.0 points, 9.5 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. He is shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from downtown. The Rockets were doing this without marquee trade addition Chris Paul for a stretch but he is back from a knee injury and playing at a high level.
Clint Capela has been another key player as Houston seems to have every ingredient it needs to push the Warriors.
Free NBA ATS Picks
Houston has been dominant this season, and should continue that theme in this one. The Spurs are obviously a very good team and the return of Howard is a boost, but the Rockets are at home and playing really well.
Take Houston to take care of business in this one, as the Spurs won’t be able to slow them down despite having an excellent defense.
NBA Odds: Rockets 109, Spurs 102
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