Philadelphia @ Houston
Current Records: Philadelphia 44-21; Houston 16-49
This Wednesday, the Houston Rockets are hoping to patch up the holes in a defense that has allowed an average of 115.37 points per matchup. They will take on the Philadelphia 76ers at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday at Toyota Center after having had a few days off. Philadelphia should still be riding high after a win, while the Rockets will be looking to regain their footing.
Things couldn't have gone much worse for Houston as they lost 122-97 to the New York Knicks on Sunday. Houston was down 93-71 at the end of the third quarter, which was just too much to recover from. One thing holding Houston back was the mediocre play of small forward Jae'Sean Tate, who did not have his best game: he played for 29 minutes but put up just eight points on 3-for-11 shooting and four turnovers.
Meanwhile, while not quite a landslide, the game between Philadelphia and the Chicago Bulls on Monday was still a pretty decisive one as the 76ers wrapped it up with a 106-94 victory on the road. Philadelphia can attribute much of their success to power forward Tobias Harris, who had 21 points in addition to nine rebounds, and shooting guard Seth Curry, who had 20 points.
The Rockets have to know they'll be fighting an uphill battle given the 14.50 point spread they are up against. Their home court has been no bettor's paradise, as they've failed to beat the spread in 26 of their 34 home games.
Houston was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap in the teams' previous meeting in February as they fell 118-113 to Philadelphia. Can Houston avenge their loss, or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll soon find out.
The 76ers are a big 14.5-point favorite against the Rockets, according to the latest NBA odds.
The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the 76ers as a 15-point favorite.
Over/Under: -111
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Houston have won seven out of their last 11 games against Philadelphia.
