NBA Betting – Chicago Bulls at Houston Rockets

Chicago Bulls at Houston Rockets (-3, 204.5)

After two straight losses (to the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns), the Chicago Bulls (30-19) continue their six-game road trip tonight against the Houston Rockets (33-15) at the Toyota Center (8:00 p.m. Eastern).

The road swing started well for the Bulls, who became just the second team to knock off the Golden State Warriors in Oakland this year (113-111). But they couldn’t keep the momentum going, dropping a game to the Lakers – the second-worst team in the Western Conference – two nights later (123-118).

Chicago remains on top of the Central Division, but Cleveland – which has won 11 straight – is now just half a game back.

Tonight, the Bulls have the good fortune of facing a Rockets that will be missing Dwight Howard. The Houston center will be out for at least a month with a knee injury. However, the squad is accustomed to playing without Howard; “D-12” missed 17 games earlier this year, and the Rockets managed to go 12-5 in his absence.

James Harden has been the glue that holds Houston together all year. The small forward is having an MVP-caliber season, averaging 27.0 points (best in the NBA), 6.8 assists, and 2.0 steals per game.

The Rockets may really miss Howard on the glass tonight, though. The Bulls are the second-best rebounding team in the league (45.7 RPG). Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah – both of whom are finally healthy for Chicago – combine to pull down 21.6 rebounds per game.

Trend-wise, Chicago is 2-3-1 ATS in its last six games on the road against Houston. But, given that the Bulls should have a distinct rebounding advantage, take the road team and the points (+3).

(Photo credit: Jose Garcia (Flickr: Dwight Howard And Chandler Parsons) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo may appear cropped.)