NBA Betting – Dallas Mavericks at Houston Rockets

Dallas Mavericks at Houston Rockets

With Dwight Howard’s status in doubt due to a knee injury, the Houston Rockets host the Dallas Mavericks tonight at the Toyota Center (8:00 p.m. Eastern).

The Mavericks and Rockets are second and third in the Southwest division at 10-3 and 9-3, respectively.

Despite the nearly identical records, the teams are trending in somewhat opposite direction. The Mavericks have won six straight, whereas, on Wednesday, the Rockets (sans Howard) dropped a game to the dreadful Lakers. They also lost their previous game to the Southwest-leading Grizzlies.

Howard leads the Rockets in rebounds (11.3 RPG) and blocks (2.3 BPG) and the defense suffered in his absence. Giving up just 92 points per game on the season, Houston gave up 98 to the lowly Lakers at home. 

Tarik Black did his best to fill the void left by Howard, playing 35 minutes in the loss; but the rookie couldn’t emulate Howard’s production, pulling down nine rebounds and scoring just five points.

Meanwhile, Dallas will be bringing the best offense in the league into the Toyota Center. Prior to last night’s win over the Lakers, the Mavericks were averaging 108.9 points per game, led by Monta Ellis (19.7 PPG), Dirk Nowitzki (19.1 PPG), and newcomer Chandler Parsons (14 PPG).

In addition, point guard Devin Harris (8.6 PPG and 4.4 APG) is back on the floor after suffering a lower leg injury.

The recent history has been very right between Dallas and Houston. The teams split the season series last year (2-2), with each team winning once on the road and every game being decided by single-digits. The Mavs took three of four the year before, though, and have won seven of the last ten. Houston won the last matchup in January.

(Photo credit: 2O (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)