Houston Rockets vs Atlanta Hawks Prediction & Betting Tips - NBA

Prediction published on 20/12/2023, 05:23  by Joseph King | Modified on 20/12/2023 at 05:40 in NBA Predictions

The West’s ninth-placed Houston Rockets play host to the East’s 10th-place Atlanta Hawks in his Wednesday night NBA matchup. The Rockets, 13-11 on the year, will look to close the gap on the Lakers and move into a top eight spot. They’ll first have to put an end to their losing skid which reached two games following Houston’s 135-130 overtime loss away to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday. They have a golden opportunity to do just that as Houston has been nearly faultless at the Toyota Center this season. The Rockets are 11-1 on home soil this season, tying them with the Timberwolves for the best home record in the Western Conference. They’ve been locking teams down on the defensive side of the ball, ranking seventh in adjusted defensive rating and second in opponent effective field goal percentage (50.6%). It’s a night-and-day difference from last season which saw Houston give up the third-most points per game in the league.

The Hawks will be looking to build some momentum as they try to string together back-to-back victories for the first time in nearly a month. Atlanta was able to prevail 130-124 over the abysmal Pistons on Monday to pick up only their second win in the last eight games. The Hawks have seemingly been regressing over recent seasons and look like they might struggle to hit .500 this campaign. At 11-15 on the year, Atlanta’s Achilles’ heel has been their defense which is allowing the third-most points per game in the league at 122.7. Not only do they rank 27th in adjusted defensive rating, the Hawks are simply unable to get a stop. They are allowing opponent teams to shoot 50.3% from the field and 38.2% from downtown.