Arena Cuidad De Mexico - Mexico City
Tip-off: Wednesday, 10:05 p.m. ET
Line: Houston -6.5, Total: 199

The Rockets look to continue their hot start to the 2014-15 season as they face the rebuilding Timberwolves in Mexico City on Wednesday night.

Houston has appeared to be a serious contender in the Western Conference as the team won its first six games of the season (5-0-1 ATS) before suffering its first loss Saturday versus Golden State by a score of 98-87 as a 3.5-point underdog. The Rockets defeated their opponents by an average of 14.7 PPG during their six-game win streak, but let the Warriors get the best of them while making only 30-of-86 FG (34.9%). Minnesota looks to be in the midst of rebuilding its franchise and has won only two games so far while being a solid 4-2 ATS. The Wolves had covered in their first four contests before failing to do so in their two most recent losses against both Orlando (112-103) and Miami (102-92) on the road. They were 7.5-point underdogs when facing the Heat on Saturday and suffered a 10-point loss as they shot a mere 40.2% from the field with just 4-of-16 threes going in. These two clubs met four times last season with the Rockets picking up three wins (SU and ATS) while the average total was 216.5 PPG. They did much better at home as they made 54.9% of their shots in the two home wins, but only 45.5% FG in the two contests on the road. Overall since 1996, Houston is 42-28 SU (60%) and 36-30 ATS (55%) in this matchup. Bettors should be aware of a few trends, including that the Rockets are 81-50 ATS (62%) in non-home games after two straight games with 19 or less assists since 1996 while the Wolves are 20-14 ATS (59%) when playing four games or less in 10 days over the past three seasons. As far as injuries are concerned, C Dwight Howard (flu) and PG Patrick Beverley (hamstring) are both probable, while PF Terrence Jones (knee) is out indefinitely for the Rockets. PF Anthony Bennett (knee) is questionable for Wednesday, and teammate PG Ricky Rubio (ankle) remains out indefinitely for Minnesota.

Which team will pick up the win south of the border? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2014-15 season. StatFox Zach posted a 54% ATS mark (65-56-4) in NBA Best Bets last season, while StatFox Forecaster had a 53.4% ATS (207-181-12) in featured games last season. StatFox Scott is off to a great start to the 2014-15 campaign at 60% ATS (6-4), while StatFox Brian is 67% ATS (4-2) on NBA Best Bets in November.

The Rockets offense has been adequate this season with 101.9 PPG (13th in NBA) on 44.4% shooting (16th in league) but has failed to break 100 points in each of the past two games. They have really impressed on the defensive side of things though, holding opponents to a mere 90.9 PPG (2nd in league) while holding them to NBA-low shooting percentages of 40.7% FG and 27.2% threes. Houston has yet to allow a 100-point game to its opposition. SG James Harden (25.4 PPG, 7.1 APG, 6.7 RPG, 1.4 SPG, 1.1 BPG) has had no trouble filling up the stat sheet and has had 20+ points in all but one game this season. He was great against the Timberwolves over three games last season, averaging 26.7 PPG (46% FG), 7.7 APG and 6.0 RPG. C Dwight Howard (19.7 PPG, 11.5 RPG, 1.8 BPG) has a double-double in each of his past three games played but missed the team’s last contest with the flu. He’s owned Minnesota over his 19 career meetings, tallying 16.7 PPG (57% FG), 13.9 RPG and 2.6 BPG. SF Trevor Ariza (14.6 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 1.9 SPG) started the season hot, but has hit a meager 5-of-26 shots (19%) in the past two contests. He has put up 10.5 PPG (44% FG) and 3.5 RPG over his 20 career games (8 starts) against the Timberwolves.

Minnesota has scored a mediocre 99.3 PPG this season (17th in NBA) as the club is making only 43.7% of its shots (21st in league) and is coming off a season-low 92 points in Saturday's loss to Miami. The Wolves defense hasn’t been great either with opponents dropping 101.2 PPG on them (19th in NBA) while allowing a hefty 48.1% FG (2nd-worst in league). SG Kevin Martin (19.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG) really struggled against the Heat, making only 2-of-9 shots for eight points and is shooting a poor 40% on the year. He also has not done very well in his time against Houston (17 games, 11 starts) where he has scored 14.6 PPG (43% FG) and grabbed just 2.8 RPG. SF Thaddeus Young (15.7 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 1.7 SPG) has netted at least 12 points in each of the past three contests and has been on the court an average of 36.7 MPG in that time. He has gone against the Rockets 13 times (7 starts) in his career and has averaged 14.2 PPG (51% FG) and 6.8 RPG. C Nikola Pekovic (15.0 PPG, 8.5 RPG) has three double-doubles in his past five games and has shot well for a big man from the charity stripe (87% FT). He hasn’t had too much experience against Houston (10 games, 7 starts) where he has recorded 10.3 PPG (49% FG) and 6.7 RPG in those meetings.