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Struggling Pacers host Rockets Monday
By: Freddy Wander - StatFox
Published: 3/23/2015  at  9:21:00 AM
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HOUSTON ROCKETS (46-23)

at INDIANA PACERS (30-39)

Tip-off: Monday, 7:00 p.m. ET
Line: Indiana -1.0, Total: N/A

The Indiana Pacers attempt to snap a nasty five-game losing streak when they host the Houston Rockets on Monday night.

The Rockets continue to play some solid basketball and have won five of their past eight games both SU and ATS; earning four of the victories by double-digits. The offense has been the usual driving force when the club wins as it puts up an impressive 108.4 PPG in the five most recent wins. Houston couldn’t keep up with the Suns on Saturday, though, losing by a score of 117-102 as a 7.5-point favorite at home. Phoenix made 46-of-92 shots (50%) in the manhandling of Houston as the Rockets turned the ball over 18 times. Indiana has not had the season it would have liked and is playing very poor coming into this one with losses in each of the past five games (1-4 ATS) as it scores a meager 95.2 PPG. The defense was also horrible during that stretch, allowing opponents to net more than 110 points twice as it gave up 106.2 PPG. The Pacers finally did something on offense on Saturday, putting up 111 points, but let the Nets drop 123 points on them while giving 8.5 points at home. They made a solid 45-of-90 shots (50% FG) in the loss but let Brooklyn get an amazing 46-of-75 (61% FG) attempts to drop. Houston hasn’t been horrible on the road with a 19-13 SU record (16-16 ATS) in away games as it faces an Indiana group that is 18-17 SU (17-17-1 ATS) at home. The home teams have dominated the recent matchups with these two groups, winning each of the past three contests by an average of 23.7 PPG as the Rockets have come away victorious in the past two and earlier this season they were able to grab a 110-98 win against the Pacers; making 51.4% of their shots in the process. Some trends to keep an eye on include that Houston is 10-1 ATS (91%) when coming off an upset loss this year while Indiana is 5-1 ATS after a game where it allowed a shooting percentage of 55% or higher in the past three seasons. On the injury front, the Rockets will continue to be very shallow with their big men as both C Dwight Howard (Knee) and PF Terrence Jones (Ribs) are out while SF Kostas Papanikolaou (Ankle) is questionable. The Pacers still obviously have SF Paul George (Leg) out while SG Rodney Stuckey (Calf) is questionable.

Can the Pacers hold off the Rockets in Indiana Monday? 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 (184-150-2) in featured games this season. In terms of Best Bets, the experts have a huge 61% ATS (116-74-4) record since Feb. 1, led by StatFox Gary who has a stellar 61% ATS (34-22-1) mark in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 1, and is 58% ATS (60-44-1) this season. StatFox Scott is also sizzling with a 61% ATS record (39-25-1) in Best Bets since Dec. 21, improving his record to 56% ATS (58-46-1) for the season, and StatFox Brian has a lofty 61% ATS (20-13-1) mark in Best Bets since Feb. 4, and is now 57% ATS (59-45-1) in season Best Bets. StatFox Dave is a scorching 67% ATS (26-13) in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 28, while StatFox Zach is a robust 67% ATS (38-19-1) in NBA Best Bets since Jan. 2.

The Houston offense has been great for a few years now and it is scoring 103.3 PPG (8th in league) behind 43.9% shooting (9th-worst in league). On the defensive side of things the Rockets are allowing opponents to put up 100.2 PPG on 44.1% shooting (10th in league). SG James Harden (26.9 PPG, 7.0 APG, 5.8 RPG, 1.9 SPG) has made a meager 35% of his shots in the past five games and is coming off a rough showing (16 points, 5 assists, 2 steals) in the loss to Phoenix. He didn’t disappoint when he last met with Indiana though, scoring 45 points to go with seven assists and four steals. Trevor Ariza (12.6 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.9 SPG) has had a horrible year shooting, making a mere 39% over the year, but has picked it up of late while hitting 48% of his attempts in the past five outings with 14.4 PPG. He was a non-factor when his team beat the Pacers earlier in the year as he had nine points with three steals. SG Corey Brewer (11.7 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 1.6 SPG) has three double-digit scoring performances in the past five games and has grabbed 7.4 RPG in that time. He had 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting while adding little else against Indiana back in January.

The Pacers do little to instill fear in their opponents on the offensive end, netting 96.6 PPG (7th-worst in league) on 43.8% shooting (8th-worst in league). They don’t allow too much on defense, though, giving up a mere 96.8 PPG (3rd-worst in league) with 43.5% of opponents attempts going in (4th in league). PG George Hill (15.1 PPG, 4.6 APG) has been hot recently with 21.0 PPG over his past five performances as he’s made 56.9% of his shots. He wasn’t on the court in the first meeting with Houston and averaged just 8.0 PPG (54% FG) with 4.0 APG against them in two games last year. PF David West (11.9 PPG, 7.0 RPG) has been horrible in the past five contests with 7.8 PPG and 5.0 RPG as he also did little (8 points, 6 rebounds) in the loss to the Rockets. C Roy Hibbert (10.8 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 1.7 BPG) has had a rough season but has done well (16.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 1.3 BPG) in his past four games. He played just 19 minutes against Houston this year with 12 points and four boards.


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