Bitter Southwest Rivals – San Antonio vs Houston

Houston Rockets (46-25 SU, 33-36-1 ATS) at San Antonio Spurs (45-23 SU, 34-31-2 ATS)

The Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs engage in one of the fiercest rivalries in the NBA. On Sunday afternoon these two will get together again, in NBA pro basketball sports betting action that is slated to get underway at 3:30 PM ET at the AT&T Center in San Antonio.

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

* HOU has won 15 of its last 19 games SU
* HOU has played six of its last eight games UNDER the total
* HOU has won four of its last five road games SU
* HOU has covered its last five road games
* HOU has played its last five road games UNDER the total
* SA has won five of its last eight games SU
* SA has covered one of its last five games
* SA has played six of its last eight games UNDER the total
* SA has won four of its last six home games SU
* SA has played four of its last six home games UNDER the total

Also…

* SA has won four of the last six meetings SU
* SA has covered three of the last four meetings
* Nine of the last 11 meetings have gone UNDER the total
* SA has won seven of the last nine meetings SU as the home team
* HOU has covered five of the last seven meetings as the road team
* Seven of the last eight meetings in San Antonio have gone UNDER the total
* SA has had the shooting edge in four of the last five meetings

In the Western Conference, all eight playoff teams are pretty well set, unless the Phoenix Suns mount a major charge toward the end. The battle is for the actual playoff placement and home court advantage. There are only four games separating the #2 and #8 spots, although division championships affected playoff seeding as well. Right now San Antonio is in second place overall, just a half game in front of Houston, which is also in the Southwest Division. However, I’m not sure what the real difference is in playing the sixth or seventh West seed.

The last time these teams played, it was a donnybrook, with the lead changing 21 times in a game San Antonio eventually won 88-85 at Houston. Drew Gooden was playing just his second game for the Spurs at the time, and he scored 13 points off the bench, but Gooden has not been so productive lately, scoring just 13 points in three games since.

Houston has continued to play well, despite having lost Tracy McGrady to injury and Rafer Alston in a trade. They’ve won three straight since that loss against San Antonio, including a win at New Orleans against another team jockeying for playoff position. Aaron Brooks, who is logging most of the time at point guard, has scored in double digits in seven straight games, and Kyle Lowry has also been effective playing that position, with 11 assists against just one turnover in the last three games.

Manu Ginobili is still out of action for the Spurs with his ankle injury, and it is hard for San Antonio to find instant offense without him, even with Gooden now on board. The team has averaged just 83.5 points in the last four games. These meetings have skewed toward the "under," and that kind of defensive struggle is what Houston’s roster is constructed for. We’re delighted to grab the points with the Rockets in the BetOnline NBA Sportsbook.

JAY’S PLAY:  HOUSTON BY 3
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)