The Houston Rockets find themselves in good form ahead of their Sunday night trip to the nation’s capital to play the Washington Wizards. Kevin Durant and company are 10-3 SU and 9-4 ATS this season, including 7-3 SU and 6-4 ATS in their last 10 – six of those games went over the total, too. On the other side, Washington is 4-9 SU and 6-7 ATS this season, but their last 10 games have them at just 2-8 SU and 4-6 ATS – including six straight losses. Unlike Houston, only three of those 10 recent games went over the total.
Fred VanVleet (injury management) and Marcus Smart (suspension) will miss this game, leaving the Rockets shorthanded in the back court, specifically at the point guard position. Trae Young is not a defender by any means, so I don’t think it will necessarily hurt the visitors. That said, Washington does have some perimeter length to challenge Houston’s shots, and they can catch fire offensively.
Only three of Washington’s last 11 games were played at home, and this will be their first time playing consecutive home games since their first two games of the season nearly one month ago. Coming off a 144-140 overtime loss to one of the three best Eastern Conference teams in the Detroit Pistons on Thursday, I like Washington’s chances of getting up for a big game at home against Kevin Durant and company, especially if at least one or two of Alex Sarr, Tre Johnson or Bub Carrington move from questionable to active.
Rockets vs Wizards prediction: Washington Wizards +8.5 (-108) at the time of publishing. Playable to +7.
