Tip-off: Wednesday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: Houston -6.5, Total: 198

The Cavaliers continue to play without LeBron James when they host James Harden and the Rockets on Wednesday night. But Cleveland PG Kyrie Irving (back) will return to action for this contest.

Houston has put together a nice season so far behind a deep group of talented players at all positions, but has recently hit a wall with six losses in the past 10 games (SU and ATS). The Rockets were the favorites in four of the six defeats, but were able to grab some solid victories as they beat Memphis by a score of 117-111 as 2-point underdogs on the road and claimed the other three wins by an average of 23.3 PPG. In their most recent contest on Monday, Houston was no challenge for the 3-point home favorite Bulls, losing 114-105 despite recording nine steals and eight blocks. The big difference in the end came from the charity stripe, as the Rockets were a measly 3-of-5 from the free-throw line, while Chicago managed to get there 30 times and made 27 FT (90%). Cleveland has seen both Kyrie Irving and James miss time in the past week and has not played well in duo's absence, going 2-6 (SU and ATS) including three losses as the favorite. The biggest issue that the Cavaliers are having is simply making baskets, as over the past eight contests they have shot worse than 40% from the floor four times. Their woes really were evident in Monday's loss against the lowly 4.5-point underdog Philadelphia, as they jumped out to a 50-37 lead by halftime only to implode and lose 95-92 as 4.5-point favorites on the road. As a team they shot a putrid 39% from the floor while allowing the young 76ers, the worst shooting team in the league (41.3% FG), to make 38 of their 79 attempts (48% FG). Houston has been a solid road team this season with an SU record of 10-5, while going just 7-8 ATS, and will be facing a Cleveland team that is 11-8 SU (7-12 ATS) at home. The Rockets have won all four meetings between these two teams in the past two seasons, going 3-1 ATS while beating the Cavs by an average of 16.8 PPG, and shooting better than 46% FG in each of those contests. Some trends to watch in this one include that Houston is 49-23 ATS (68%) after two straight games with 15+ offensive rebounds since 1996 while Cleveland has gone 9-6 ATS (60%) after three straight games where it made 42% or fewer of its shots in the past three seasons. The injury report still has PG Alexey Shved (ankle) and PF Terrence Jones (leg) out indefinitely for Houston, while there remains plenty of question marks from the Cavaliers, as PG Kyrie Irving (back) is probable, SG J.R. Smith is questionable, and the trio of SF LeBron James (knee), C Anderson Varejao (Achilles) and SG Iman Shumpert (shoulder) are all sidelined.

Can the Rockets win comfortably on the road Wednesday night? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2014-15 season. StatFox Forecaster has a strong 55% ATS record (89-72-1) in featured games this season. In terms of Best Bets, StatFox Scott is a sizzling 75% ATS (9-3) in Best Bets since Dec. 21, improving his record to 54% ATS (28-24) for the season. StatFox Brian is 62% ATS (18-11) in Best Bets since Nov. 29, and is now 55% ATS (28-23) in season Best Bets, while StatFox Gary is 54% ATS (15-13) in NBA Best Bets since Nov. 29, and is now 53% ATS (27-24) this season.

Houston’s offense can explode at any time, but it can also come out flat, as the club is averaging 101.0 PPG (16th in league) while making a meager 43.2% of their field goal attempts (5th-worst in league). Last season the team averaged 108.0 PPG on 47.0% FG. But the defense of the Rockets has been outstanding this season, as they are giving up the third-fewest points in the NBA (97.4 PPG) while holding the opposition to a low 43.6% FG (5th in league). SG James Harden (27.0 PPG, 6.5 APG, 5.9 RPG, 1.9 SPG, 1.0 BPG) has been a one-man wrecking crew this season and has scored 30+ points in 13 of his 34 performances. The bearded guard was huge against the Cavs over two meetings last season, averaging 32.5 PPG (59% FG), 7.0 APG and 2.0 SPG. C Dwight Howard (17.8 PPG, 11.5 RPG, 1.7 BPG) has looked like his old self over the past two contests with 17.5 PPG and 13.5 RPG. He’s done well in his 31 career games facing Cleveland too, with 17.8 PPG (58% FG) to go along with 12.5 RPG and 2.3 BPG. SF Trevor Ariza (12.6 PPG, 5.9 RPG) has really cooled off lately, making just 4-of-26 threes (15%) over his past five games. As a member of the Wizards last season, Ariza was able to take on the Cavaliers twice, netting 14.5 PPG (58% FG) and grabbing 8.0 RPG.

Cleveland’s offense has been just average this season, as it is scoring 100.6 PPG on 45.1% FG, which both rank 17th in the NBA. Their defense also sits in the middle of the pack in scoring defense, allowing 99.3 PPG (15th in league) on 46.9% FG (4th-worst in NBA). PG Kyrie Irving (20.4 PPG, 5.2 APG, 3.1 RPG, 1.5 SPG) will play on Wednesday where he will try to record his 20th game of 20+ points. But he is shooting only 28% FG so far in January. PF Kevin Love (17.8 PPG, 10.2 PPG) has finally looked like the player that led the Timberwolves over his past two contests, as he’s scored 29.0 PPG with 14.5 RPG in that time. He’s faced the Rockets 17 times (15 starts) in his career, scoring 19.9 PPG (47% FG) and grabbing 11.4 RPG in those meetings. PF Tristan Thompson (9.7 PPG, 8.1 RPG) has averaged a solid 13.6 PPG and 12.0 RPG over the past five games, as he takes on a much larger role with all the injuries to his teammates. He has had just five opportunities (4 starts) to go against Houston in his young career, putting up 8.4 PPG (49% FG) and 9.4 RPG. If SG J.R. Smith (10.9 PPG with Knicks) is out for this game, SG Joe Harris (3.1 PPG) will play a much larger role, and showed what he is capable of after getting his first start on Monday, in which he produced 16 points and four assists over 32 minutes.