Tip-off: Wednesday, 9:35 p.m. ET
Line: Houston -2.0

The Rockets will be fighting for their playoff lives when they face the Mavericks on Wednesday.

The Rockets are in desperate need of a victory on Wednesday and they should have some momentum coming into this one. Houston hosted Oklahoma City on Sunday and won that game 118-110 as a 3.5-point underdog. The Rockets have now won-and-covered in three of their past five contests. Dallas, meanwhile, is red-hot coming into this one. The Mavericks have now won four straight games after defeating the Timberwolves 88-78 as three-point road favorites on Sunday. These teams have already met three times this season and the Rockets are 2-1 both SU and ATS in those games. They are also 11-5 both SU and ATS when facing the Mavericks over the past three seasons. It’s worth noting that Houston is an impressive 17-4 ATS when playing with two days rest over the past two seasons. PG Deron Williams (Abdominal) is out indefinitely for Dallas, which is already without SF Chandler Parsons (Knee) for the season.

The Rockets can’t afford to lose on Wednesday and that means that SG James Harden (28.7 PPG, 7.5 APG, 6.3 RPG, 1.7 SPG) is going to need to put his team on his back in this one. Harden was outstanding against the Thunder on Sunday, finishing with 41 points, nine assists and three steals in 43 minutes of action. He is, however, averaging just 24.3 PPG on 35.5% shooting against the Mavericks this season. If he is not more efficient then the Rockets just might lose this one. C Dwight Howard (13.8 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 1.6 BPG) is going to need to step it up for his team as well. Howard is averaging just 7.0 PPG over the past five contests and Houston needs him to score more than that in this game. He’s one of the best players in the league when he catches the ball in the paint and the Rockets would be wise to take advantage of his size. SF Trevor Ariza (12.5 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 2.0 SPG) could be the x-factor in this game. He’s averaging 17.0 PPG on 57.6% shooting from the field against Dallas this season and will need to do even better without Parsons.

The Mavericks are playing extremely well recently and they also happen to be winning with Dirk Nowitzki (18.4 PPG, 6.5 RPG) struggling. Nowitzki is averaging just 13.4 PPG on 29.7% shooting from the floor over the past five games and Dallas is going to need him to get back on track heading into the postseason. One good sign is that Nowitzki is averaging 17.5 PPG on 46.4% shooting against the Rockets on the year. He’ll be hoping to find some similar success on Wednesday. SG Wes Matthews (12.5 PPG, 1.0 SPG) is going to be a huge factor in this game as well. Matthews had 19 points in a win over the Timberwolves on Sunday and the Mavericks will need him to get hot on Wednesday. He’ll also need to play well defensively, as he can’t afford to let James Harden go off in this game. PG J.J. Barea (10.9 PPG, 4.1 APG) is another guy that the Mavericks will need to play well moving forward. He has been on fire lately, averaging 21.6 PPG and 6.0 APG over the past five contests. His speed should give the Rockets some trouble in this one, so he must attack the basket.