MetroBet takes a glance at where to place your money on the NBA on Monday night.
Utah Jazz at Houston Rockets (-5)
Moneyline: Jazz +175, Rockets -205
Betting Total: 213 points
Time (Eastern), TV: 8 p.m., NBATV
James Harden will be looking for his third straight triple-double as the Utah Jazz (14-16) pay a visit to the Houston Rockets (14-14) on Monday night.
The streaky Rockets have won three straight, thanks in no small part to Harden’s 29, 50 and 32-point efforts. They’re building on a 6-2 spread trend off a recent cover. Houston is also 6-2 against the spread in their last eight games at the Toyota Center.
Meanwhile, the Jazz have dropped three of their last four as well as their last four road games. Center Rudy Gobert has struggled in particular, as he’s been held to 14 points or fewer in each of his last five contests.
Houston has been getting unexpected contributions from unusual sources of late, as center Clint Capela had 26 points in Memphis on Saturday, while Gerald Green is 9-for-11 from beyond the arc over his last three games.
Utah exits one of their worst shooting games of the season (31.5 percent, albeit the game was in Mexico City). They’ll have to turn that around rapidly against the shot-happy Rockets.
Prediction: Rockets win, 112-104
The play: Rockets -5
Portland Trailblazers at Los Angeles Clippers (-2)
Moneyline: Trailblazers +110, Clippers -130
Betting Total: 218 points
The Portland Trailblazers (16-13) could be staring down the barrel of a fifth consecutive road loss as they head to the Staples Center to face the L.A. Clippers (17-12) this Monday night.
The Trailblazers are fresh off an emotional win over the Toronto Raptors, the team with the NBA’s best record. “Obviously, it was a very good win against a very good team,” Portland head coach Terry Stotts told reporters afterwards. “I was really proud of our bench. They played extraordinary. It’s an understatement that they made the difference in the game.”
Expectations that the Trailblazers’ reserves can replicate that effort should be tempered, as the Clippers allow opposing bench players to shoot just 43.8 percent from the floor, the 10th-lowest mark in the league.
L.A. has won just one of their last six games (and it was over the bottom-feeding Suns in overtime), but head coach Doc Rivers believes his team has turned a corner.
“I don’t know where it came from, but the energy was phenomenal,” Rivers told reporters after a 110-104 loss in Oklahoma City. “I thought for whatever reason our team returned today and so moving forward I think we’ll be in good shape.”
Trends point to a Clippers victory, as they’ve covered in eight of their last 11 home games. Portland is 1-11 against the spread in their last 12 road games vs. a team with a winning home record, per Covers.com.
Prediction: Clippers win, 117-110
The play: Clippers -2
