NBA action continues on Monday night with a non-conference matchup between the Houston Rockets (18-16, 20-12-2 ATS) and the Miami Heat (20-15, 16-19 ATS). The Rockets are currently 9th in the West, while Miami sits in 5th in the East. Houston just pulled out a home win over Milwaukee 112-108, winning outright as 7.5-point underdogs. The Heat lost on the road in Phoenix 113-97 as 3.5-point favorites. This is the first of two matchups between these teams this season. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 EST from the Kaseya Center in Miami.
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The Houston Rockets are fresh off a game in which they allowed a former MVP to score 48 points, but still won the game. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 48 points and 17 rebounds, but Houston took advantage of an early lead and were able to hold on late. Houston led by 16 points going in to the 4th quarter, and nearly gave the game away in the end. The Rockets got 21 points and 11 rebounds from Alperen Sengun and another 16 points from Jalen Green in the win.
Sengun and Green have played and started in every game this season. Sengun is the leading scorer and rebounder with 21.4 PPG and 9.0 RPG. Sengun has scored 19 or more in his last nine games, including a high of 37 in a win over the Pelicans. Jalen Green is next in scoring with 17.4 PPG, he is an athletic wing who also grabs 4.6 RPG. Fred Van Vleet runs the point, and is the top shooter on the team, he leads the team in assists with 8.5 per game, and m akes 3.0 threes per game on 39.8% shooting from deep. Van Vleet averages 17.1 PPG. Two strong defenders round out the rest of the starting lineup, Dillon Brooks adds 13.6 PPG and Jabari Smith Jr. gets another 13.4 PPG to go with 8.7 RPG.
Their starters all average double-figures, while no one on their bench reaches that mark. The top scorer is Tari Eason at 9.8 PPG and rookie Cam Whitmore adds another 8.2 PPG. The Rockets rank 22nd in the nation in offensive efficiency and 6th in defensive efficiency according to dunksandthrees.com. Houston plays slow, they only rank 25th in the league in tempo.
Injury Report:
Day-to-day: Dillon Brooks and Tari Eason both sat out against Milwaukee with injuries.