The Houston Rockets are doing a great job at one thing this season: tanking. The Rockets are 11-38, 1.5 games worse than the second worst team in the NBA, the Detroit Pistons.
Detroit is 13-37, and struggling without Cade Cunningham for most of the season. Now, the Rockets are missing the No. 2 pick from the 2021 NBA draft, Jalen Green, who went right after Cunningham. He’s out with a bruised right calf tonight.
It’s the race to the bottom, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t value for bettors in this game.
Rockets vs. Pistons odds, spread and total
Rockets vs. Pistons prediction and pick
The Houston Rockets are the worst team in the NBA with Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. on the floor and now, neither guy will play tonight in Detroit. Green leads Houston in scoring with 21.7 points a game, and Porter Jr. is second, averaging 19.2 points. The Rockets are 29th in scoring and are missing their two top scorers for this game. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t call that great news.
On Thursday, the Pistons took down Brooklyn, 130-122 on the back of Saddiq Bey’s 25 points. Bey and Bojan Bogdanovic will provide Detroit with enough scoring and it’ll be up to Alperen Sengun or Jabari Smith Jr. to match them. I don’t think that they can. Give me Detroit against a banged up Houston lineup.
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