Tip-off: Thursday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: Houston -2.5, Total: 194

Both the Rockets and Bulls will be looking to recover from a loss when the two teams meet at United Center on Thursday night.

Houston is coming off of a 106-98 road loss to the Thunder on Tuesday, marking the first time the club failed to score in triple-digits in the month of March. Chicago, which seemed to be riding momentum after a win over Miami, lost 104-96 to the Spurs on Tuesday. The 104 points scored by San Antonio ended the Bulls' seven-game streak of allowing fewer than 100 points. Over the past three seasons, Houston is a perfect 4-0 (SU and ATS) against Chicago, including two wins (SU and ATS) in the Windy City. The last two victories by the Rockets have been by a combined total of 38 points, including a 109-94 rout on Dec. 18. Twenty-three of 32 games (72%) in this series have gone Over the total since 1996. Houston is 72-49 ATS (60%) in road games after allowing 100+ points in two straight games since 1996, but Chicago is 25-12 ATS (68%) off a home loss over the past three seasons, and also 13-4 ATS (77%) revenging a double-digit loss versus an opponent this season.

Which team will get back in the win column on Thursday night? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2012-13 season. The five StatFox experts have been surging in NBA Best Bets recently with a 55% ATS record (61-50-1) since Feb. 10. StatFox Dave has a strong 58% ATS (42-31-1) Best Bets record since Dec. 1 and is 54% ATS (52-45-1) on Best Bets for the season. StatFox Brian remains red-hot, going 66% ATS (23-12-1) since Jan. 25 and 59% ATS (38-26-1) in Best Bets since Dec. 12.

Houston's offense has been rolling all season with 106.5 PPG (3rd in NBA), but that's a necessity because the team surrenders 101.7 PPG (17th in league). While the team doesn't share the ball well enough (20.8 APG, 22nd in NBA), it really dominates the glass with 45.2 RPG (5th in league). The Rockets are coming off an eight-point road loss to the Thunder in which SG James Harden (24.9 PPG, 5.7 APG, 4.8 RPG) had 28 points (9-of-21 FG, 3-of-7 threes), nine assists and eight rebounds against his former team. Harden had just 19 points in the first meeting with Chicago this season, but he did have six assists and three steals. C Dwight Howard (18.7 PPG, 12.4 RPG, 1.8 BPG), who struggled against the Thunder with just nine points, had 23 points and nine rebounds in his last matchup with Chicago’s big man, Joakim Noah. SF Chandler Parsons (16.6 PPG, 5.7 RPG) had 19 points in the loss to Oklahoma City, but he struggled defensively while matched up with Kevin Durant. Parsons had a big game in the Dec. 18 meeting with Chicago though, finishing with 19 points (8-of-14 FG, 3-of-4 threes) and nine rebounds in 36 minutes. Parsons’ matchup with Jimmy Butler will be a crucial one in this game, and Houston will need its versatile swingman to come out on top in order to pick up this road victory.

Chicago's offense doesn't hold a candle to Houston's offense, averaging a league-worst 93.1 PPG on 43.1% FG (2nd-worst in NBA), but this has been an elite defensive unit all season, limiting opponents to a mere 92.3 PPG (2nd in league) on 43.3% FG (also 2nd in NBA). The Bulls are also an above-average rebounding (44.9 RPG, 9th in league) and passing team (22.2 APG, 11th in NBA). Chicago picked up a huge home victory over the Heat on Sunday, but followed it up with a disappointing performance against the Spurs. One player who did perform well in Tuesday's loss was PG D.J. Augustin (12.0 PPG, 4.4 APG), who had 24 points and four assists. This came two days after a 22-point performance in the upset win over Miami. SG Jimmy Butler (13.0 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 2.0 SPG), who had 20 points in the season's first meeting with the Rockets, had 23 points and six rebounds against the Spurs. Butler is averaging 19.5 PPG and 8.5 RPG over the past two contests, and his length and athleticism should make for a very interesting matchup with Chandler Parsons. C Joakim Noah (12.2 PPG, 11.3 RPG, 4.9 APG) has been the talk of the league after leading the Bulls to a win over Miami on Sunday when he had 20 points, 12 boards, seven assists and five blocks. But Noah had just six points (3-of-8 FG) in his last matchup with Dwight Howard, so it will be interesting to see if he can carry his recent great play into this game. The Bulls will need the Noah who is averaging 14.5 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 7.8 APG and 2.8 BPG over the past four games if they are going to win this one.