The Houston Rockets have played against a ton of playoff-bound teams in the Western Conference of late, and it shouldn't be all that surprising that they're 2-5 SU in those games. A duel at home against the New Orleans Pelicans should be a bit of a reprieve from the nasty schedule, but the Pels are frisky and could be primed for the upset.
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SCHEDULING
The Pelicans will have had three straight days off to get ready for this one, something which could be crucial with Anthony Davis battling a toe injury. The Kentucky standout was injured in warm-ups against Minnesota on Saturday night, but he expects to be ready to go in this one after the few off days in a row.
Houston, which has only played one game at home since February 6, will be hosting New Orleans two days after taking on the Bucks in an oddly placed one-game road trip on Monday.
KEY MATCHUP
In recent weeks, we've highlighted just how bad the Rockets have been against opposing big men. Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge added to that for the Spurs against Houston, as the big man duo combined for 53 points and 24 boards in 72 minutes between them.
Davis has been enormous of late. In his last four games, he's averaged 33.0 points and 13.3 rebounds per game, including putting up at least 20 boards twice and at least 30 points three times in that stretch.
The Pels proved that they could still get some points on the board without Davis out there when they scored 110 against Minnesota on Saturday thanks to 20 from Jrue Holiday and 31 from both Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon. If those men are rolling and Davis proved to be healthy and dominant, the Rockets are going to have some real problems in live betting.
KEY STATS & TRENDS
New Orleans' offense though, hasn't been nearly as good on the road as it has been at home. The over is 22-7 for over backers in New Orleans home games this year, but just 7-21-1 when it plays on the road.
Live bettors have generally been able to get a sense of what they can expect out of the Pelicans early on in games. They've either scored 110 or more or 96 points or fewer in all but two of their last 17 games.
Houston is going to be favored in this game for the first time in quite some time. After the Rockets are dogs in Milwaukee on Monday, that'll be four games in a row and six out of seven in which they've gone off the board as pups. They've failed to cover four of their last five as chalk, including losing to both Washington and Portland at home since the end of January.
James Harden has been almost quiet this year considering how bad the Rockets have been, but there are still times that live bettors have to be aware of his ability to take a game over on offense. He's scored at least 27 points in seven straight games, averaging 35.1 points per game in that stretch.
It's just too bad for Houston's live bettors that the rest of the team is averaging just 69.9 points per game in that run.
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Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneylines are all available by clicking here, so start betting with BookMaker right now! Bet on the NBA today as the New Orleans Pelicans and the Houston Rockets square off Wednesday, March 2, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. ET at the Toyota Center.
