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Rockets vs. Suns Free NBA Pick

NBA betting preview and free pick for tonights matchup between the Rockets and the Suns. The Phoenix Suns are a 3 1/2-point favorite…

NBA Basketball Betting – Houston Rockets at Phoenix Suns

Thye Phoenix Suns (6-2 SU, 5-3 ATS) seem to have hardly missed a beat, even after changing coaches. On Wednesday night they will play host to the Houston Rockets (4-3 SU, 2-5 ATS) in an NBA contest that is set to get underway at 10:30 PM ET at the US Airways Center in Phoenix.

BetUS NBA Basketball Sports Betting Odds: PHOENIX -3.5, Total 199

Here are some of the NBA pro basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* HOU has covered one of its last five games
* HOU has lost four of its last six road games SU
* PHX has covered four of its last six games
* PHX has won five of its last six games SU
* PHX has played six of its last eight games OVER the total
* PHX has covered ten of its last 15 home games
* PHX has covered two of its last six home games
* PHX has won 12 of its last 15 home games SU
* PHX has played four of its last five home games OVER the total

Also….

* PHX has covered nine of the last 11 meetings
* PHX has won eight of the last 11 meetings SU
* PHX has won and covered four of the last five meetings as the home team
* Five of the last six meetings in Phoenix have gone UNDER the total

Phoenix has adapted well to new coach Terry Porter, although it could be argued that he has adapted well to them. The Suns are averaging 103.3 points a game, but their shooting percentage is better this year than it was last season (51.5%). In this game they oppose a team that is third from the bottom in shooting. The Rockets are hitting just 41.2% from the field; only the Clippers and Thunder are worse. They were absolutely pasted by the Lakers on Sunday, losing a 111-82 decision in a game where Tracy McGrady was 1-for-11 and Ron Artest was 2-for-11. All told, Houston was out-shot 53%-38%.

I don’t think we can expect these kind of performances to continue, because the Rockets are a lot better than that. But this team that was built for defense needs to stop people better. They have allowed almost 45% shooting, and while that’s not terrible it’s not what they have to do to overcome the bad marksmanship on their own part. And you can’t attribute this wholly to Shane Battier’s foot injury (which continues to keep him out).

Yao Ming goes up against Shaquille O’Neal in this one. That might appear to be an edge to the Rockets, but it is probably advantageous that Phoenix is not going to be overwhelmed underneath. Thus far O’Neal has made 66% of his shots in 24 minutes a game. And Amare Stoudamire has hit 62% of his field goal attempts. In a game like this one, where it is clear that one team would like to grind the other down, and where Houston is going to have to bring Phoenix’s shooting percentage to about 44% to win, it might be useful to look at the history. The Suns appear to have caused a lot of trouble for the Rockets, keeping a swift enough pace to have covered nine of the last eleven meetings (winning eight of them). Since this is obviously still a deep and talented offensive team, we’ll go with the club that looks more efficient doing what they do best. Right now, that’s the Suns, the 3.5-point favorite in the BetUS NBA pro basketball betting odds.

Our PLAY: PHOENIX -3.5 **

By Cappers Picks

Articles on CappersPicks.com are written by Q (the Head Honcho) at Cappers Picks or by our resident "in house" handicapper Razor Ray Monohan! Enjoy the free picks folks! "Pad that bankroll one day at a time!"