Rockets – Clippers

Houston Rockets will host an injury ravaged Los Angeles Clippers side on Friday night / Saturday morning (European time). This will be a very important game in the race for the 3rd place in the Western Conference.

The Rockets (24-9, 11-3 home) have been completely rejuvenated this season after the appointment of Mike D’Antoni. Very few believed D’Antoni still had it in him (I surely didn`t), but he did a great job with this Houston team and his decision to move James Harden at point guard has been borderline brilliant. The Rockets have won 13 of their last 15 games, including an easy win over Dallas last time out three days ago, when no Houston player played more than 30 minutes.

LA Clippers (22-12, 11-6 away) has been destroyed by injuries lately. They lost 4 games in a row against below average teams (some of them among the worst in the NBA) like the Nuggets, the Lakers, the Pelicans and the Mavericks. They had to play all those games without Blake Griffin, while JJ Reddick missed the last two and Chris Paul just came back two days ago against the Pelicans, but he was limited in minutes and did not play the 4th quarter even though the game was close.

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Team news: Houston misses Capela, but will likely get back second choice point guard Beverly. The Clippers will continue to miss their star big man Blake Griffin. Chris Paul will be limited in minutes again, while JJ Reddick is highly doubtful. If Reddick will eventually be fit, he will probably be limited in minutes as well.

Paul`s return is important for LA, but it`s not enough, as seen two days ago in New Orleans – especially as he is still a bit rusty and can`t play his normal number of minutes.

Not only are the Clippers dealing with key injuries, but they also have one day less of rest than Houston and have to play this game on the road. Some players will have to log big minutes again, with Griffin out, Reddick highly doubtful and Paul limited in minutes. Low confidence and exhaustion do not seem like a good mix for the Clippers ahead of this game.

I doubt the Clippers can do much damage with their key players unavailable or limited in minutes & performance, after being absolutely horrible in the last few matches, being a pummel horse for the worst sides in the league. It won`t help that they have to travel at a red hot team like Houston, who runs you off the floor with its fast paced offense.

The Rockets already gained a minor advantage over the Clippers in the race for the Western Conference third place and a win today would help them get a foothold on that position, even if it`s still early in the season. With the starters not playing much the last time out, I believe a rested and confident Houston side will take care of these decimated Clippers at home.

My tip here is Houston to cover the 5 point spread handicap, which should also be facilitated by the fact that both these teams put up a lot of points – which gives the favorite more margin for error in covering the spread. Prediction: Houston Rockets – LA Clippers 115 – 100.

Pick: Rockets -5,5
Odds: 1.90 @ 1xBet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 7.20
Event date: 31 December