{"id":6124,"date":"2008-12-22T17:08:52","date_gmt":"2008-12-22T22:08:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/?p=6124"},"modified":"2008-12-22T17:08:52","modified_gmt":"2008-12-22T22:08:52","slug":"rockets-nets-free-pick-221208","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/nba\/rockets-nets-free-pick-221208\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Betting &#8211; Rockets vs. Nets (Dec. 22)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>NBA Betting Rockets @ Nets<\/h2>\n<p>The Houston Rockets (18-9, 14-13 ATS, 16-11 O\/U) have won three consecutive games in the BetUS Sportsbook, covering the spread in two of those contests.\u00a0The New Jersey Nets (13-13, 14-12 ATS, 13-13 O\/U) have been one of the most surprising teams in the league in the early going this season but have dropped two of their last three overall. \u00a0 <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The Nets will look to get back in the win column when they host the Rockets tonight at the Izod Center.<\/p>\n<p>The Rockets will look to pick up their season-high, fourth consecutive win after beating the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves 109-102 on Saturday as six players reached double figures in scoring.<\/p>\n<p>Houston held on despite a furious comeback by the T-Wolves that saw them cut Houston\u2019s 11-point third quarter lead to three points in the final minute before eking out the win though they failed to cover the spread for BetUS NBA sports betting backers as a 5.5-point road favorite.<\/p>\n<p>Rockets forward Shane Battier said Minnesota\u2019s comeback should not have occurred.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Listen, the Boston Celtics are not giving that lead back. The Lakers are not giving that lead back. And Cleveland is not giving that lead back,&#8221; Battier said. &#8220;Those are the three teams we&#8217;re chasing right now and if we ever want to get on their level, we need to do what they do.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Houston got 23 points from Tracy McGrady, 19 points from Ron Artest and 18 apiece from blossoming guard Aaron Brooks and Yao Ming.<\/p>\n<p>The Nets are coming off a dismal 106-103 loss to the Miami Heat on Saturday, failing to cover the spread as a 4.5-point home favorite in the BetUS Sportsbook.<\/p>\n<p>New Jersey team has lost two straight and four of five at the IZOD Center to fall to 5-9 at home this season.<\/p>\n<p>Rookie center Brook Lopez led the Nets with a team-high 22 points, adding 13 rebounds and five blocked shots for good measure.<\/p>\n<p>Lopez is averaging 12.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in 19 starts since moving into the starting lineup back on Nov. 14.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It makes it so much easier when he&#8217;s a threat,&#8221; Nets point guard Devin Harris told the team&#8217;s official Web site. &#8220;When he&#8217;s rolling to the basket the way he has, it creates so much space for everybody else. We&#8217;ll continue to work with him. His post moves are getting <a href=\"http:\/\/www.betus.com\/ats\/11892\/mid\/2183\/default.aspx\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" style=\"margin: 1px; border: 1px solid #ffffff;\" title=\"Betus NBA Betting\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sportsimagestore.com\/showbanner.asp?affid=11892&#038;banid=1399 alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" \/><\/a>better, he&#8217;s gaining more confidence and we need him to play like that more.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>New Jersey also got 21 points apiece from its starting backcourt of Devin Harris and Vince Carter in the loss but allowed Miami shooting guard Dwyane Wade to put up a game-high 43 points on 13-for-22 shooting from the field.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Here is a look at tonight\u2019s key betting trends, followed by my in-depth analysis and NBA Free Pick:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Houston is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against New Jersey<br \/>\nHouston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against New Jersey<br \/>\nThe total has gone OVER in 8 of Houston&#8217;s last 9 games on the road<br \/>\nHouston is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing New Jersey<br \/>\nThe total has gone UNDER in 7 of New Jersey&#8217;s last 10 games when playing Houston<br \/>\nNew Jersey is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games<br \/>\nNew Jersey is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games<br \/>\nNew Jersey is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games at home<\/p>\n<p><strong>NBA Odds<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Houston Rockets -4 -110<br \/>\nNew Jersey Nets +4 -110<\/p>\n<p>Over 197\u00bd -110<br \/>\nUnder 197\u00bd -110<\/p>\n<p><strong>Analysis: <\/strong>While the New Jersey Nets are laying at home in this contest, I don\u2019t think they will win or cover the spread as they play almost no defense at all on most occasions while the Rockets pride themselves on stopping their opponents.<\/p>\n<p>Take Yao, T-Mac and company to pick up their fourth straight win.<\/p>\n<h3>NBA Free Picks: Houston -4 Points\/Under 197\u00bd Total Points<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Free pick and preview plus NBA betting odds and basketball lines for the matchup featuring the Houston Rockets and the New Jersey Nets &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[1979,3938,3939,1975,4045,578,7045,744,4044,3942,747,3925,6070,5067,6742,7044],"class_list":["post-6124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nba","tag-basketball-betting","tag-basketball-odds","tag-bet-on-basketball","tag-bet-on-nba","tag-free-nba-picks","tag-houston-rockets","tag-houston-rockets-vs-new-jersey-nets","tag-nba-betting","tag-nba-handicappers","tag-nba-handicapping","tag-nba-lines","tag-nba-predictions","tag-nets-betting-trends","tag-new-jersey-nets","tag-rockets-betting-trends","tag-rockets-vs-nets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6124"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6207,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6124\/revisions\/6207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}