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Rockets look to dominate Nets again Tuesday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 4/1/2014  at  5:29:00 AM
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HOUSTON ROCKETS (49-23)

at BROOKLYN NETS (39-33)

Tip-off: Tuesday, 8:05 p.m. ET
Line: Brooklyn -3, Total: 209.5

The Rockets look to win their 15th straight meeting with the Nets when they head to Brooklyn on Tuesday night.

Houston lost to the Clippers 118-107 at home on Saturday, but did win its previous five games (4-1 ATS). The Rockets will be without C Dwight Howard (ankle) for this game, and PG Patrick Beverley (knee) is out indefinitely, so their defense could struggle more than usual on Tuesday night. Brooklyn, on the other hand, defeated Minnesota 114-99 at home in its most recent game on Sunday, giving the club a 13-4 SU mark (12-5 ATS) in the past 17 contests. Houston has been a decent road team this season at 20-15 SU (17-18 ATS), but the Nets have been tough to beat at Barclays Center with a 25-11 SU mark (22-14 ATS) for the season, including 13 straight victories (11-2 ATS). When these teams met earlier in the season at Toyota Center, the Rockets won easily by a score of 114-95. Houston was favored by 11 points in the game and has now defeated Brooklyn in 14 straight contests (11-2-1 ATS). For bettors who are eyeballing this matchup, the Nets are 18-9 ATS as a home favorite this season and 11-2 ATS in home games in the second half of the season. However, in addition to its recent series dominance, Houston is also 14-5 ATS after allowing 110+ points this season.

Can the Nets finally put an end to their losing streak versus the Rockets? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2012-13 season. The experts are finishing the regular season strong at 54% ATS (42-36) in NBA Best Bets since March 9. StatFox Dave has a hefty 57% ATS (48-37-1) Best Bets record since Dec. 1, while StatFox Brian remains profitable, going 55% ATS (26-21-1) since Jan. 25. StatFox Gary is also heating up with a 60% ATS mark (18-12) since Feb. 13, while StatFox Zach is a stellar 73% ATS (11-4) since March 9.

The Rockets are without both C Dwight Howard (18.5 PPG, 12.3 RPG, 1.8 BPG) and PG Patrick Beverley (9.9 PPG, 1.4 SPG), so their defense is a major question mark for their upcoming games. Their defense isn't great anyway, giving up 101.9 PPG (17th in NBA) this season, but their offense is explosive with 107.0 PPG (2nd in league). In the loss to the Clippers on Saturday, SG James Harden (25.0 PPG, 5.8 APG, 4.7 RPG) had 32 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 42 minutes of play. Harden will use his quickness against the Nets’ slower perimeter players. He had only nine points in the first meeting between these teams. With Howard out, SF Chandler Parsons (16.2 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 4.0 APG) is now the second scoring option on this team, and he delivered 28 points and nine rebounds in 46 minutes against the Clippers. On defense, Parsons will likely draw a matchup with Paul Pierce, who has the high basketball IQ to cause Parsons some problems. C Omer Asik (4.7 PPG, 6.3 RPG) is getting his wish to start games with Dwight Howard out, and he had 12 points and 11 rebounds in the Saturday's defeat. He will need to play well in this game, as he will be matched up with Mason Plumlee, who has been playing some excellent basketball for Brooklyn as of late. Houston could really use a big performance out of PG Jeremy Lin (12.4 PPG, 4.2 APG), who hasn’t scored more than 13 points in his past five games.

Brooklyn's offense scores just 98.7 PPG (20th in NBA), but allows only 99.2 PPG (9th in league). The Nets have won two straight games and one player who has really stepped it up for them has been PF Mason Plumlee (6.7 PPG, 4.1 RPG). In Sunday's big win over the Timberwolves, Plumlee finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and a block in just 23 minutes. Earlier in the season when the Nets played the Rockets, Plumlee had 16 points and six rebounds in 28 minutes. His activity on both ends of the floor really helps Brooklyn disrupt other teams. SG Joe Johnson (15.5 PPG) will need to step up his game in this one. The Rockets do not play good defense, so Johnson should have plenty of looks. He is averaging 17.6 PPG over his past five contests, but had just five points against the Rockets last game. One area where the Nets could really exploit the Rockets is at point guard. PG Deron Williams (14.6 PPG, 6.3 APG) has had his issues this season, but he has two games with 23+ points in the past five contests, and could get the best of Jeremy Lin if he is aggressive going to the rim. Williams did not play when the Rockets defeated them in November. SF Paul Pierce (13.7 PPG) has scored 22 points in back-to-back games, and should have a good opportunity to have another big scoring output in this one.


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