Game Time: 8:30 PM ET, Friday, February 4th, 2022 

Venue:  AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas

Where to Watch:  NBA League Pass

DraftKings:  Spread:  Spurs -3.5; O/U 234.5

BetMGM:  Spread:  NL

VegasInsider:  Spread:  Spurs -3.5 O/U 234.5

WynnBet: Spread:  NL

Rockets: 15-36, 15th place Western Conference

Spurs: 19-33, 12th place Western Conference

Texas is a spoiled state.  Texas has three NBA teams, all of whom have been relevant over the decades and all of whom have seen the winner's circle. There is a famous cover of Lindy’s Draft preview and Slam Magazine that shared a cover idea (hey kids, the cover of a magazine is essentially the picture that used to appear on the front of basketball information… a magazine is what we had, made of paper, before the internet, to find out, in depth, what was going on in the NBA) of putting San Antonio’s Tim Duncan, Dallas’s Dirk Nowitski, and Houston’s Yao Ming together to declare Texas the gauntlet that nobody could make it through.  Shaq and Kobe made it through many, many times.  Yet Texas is still spoiled.  A State with three NBA teams that all have been good and all have been the home of Hall of Famers.  Lately though Houston and San Antonio don’t seem like much.  Dallas has a new Hall of Famer in the making… but Houston and San Antonio are like a grocery store with empty shelves.  The Western Conference used to take a deep breath before passing through Texas on road trips… now it’s a relaxing stroll that might as well be a home game.  The Houston Rockets are built to lose and they do lose.  They have jettisoned all the veteran talent in favor of future draft picks and start a group of five players still in the process of developing… that development will be used in future trades for sure.  San Antonio has been built to win… They just don’t.  The Spurs play an old brand of basketball perfected by their Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich… it won more games than any coach ever has… but is now outdated.  Imagine a team that worries about fundamentals and taking the best possible shot per possession?... silly.  When the Rockets play the Spurs the only teams affected are the teams at the bottom… and possibly the loser is ultimately the winner depending on how the draft breaks down.

The Houston Rockets have won 4 of their last ten games.  It may well be their best ten game stretch of the entire season. They were 5-5 ATS during that stretch.  They won their last game against the very good Cleveland Cavaliers team that was missing star PG Darius Garland and a variety of other starters like Lauri Markkanen, Colin Sexton, and Ricky Rubio.  Houston lost to these same San Antonio Spurs January 25th 134 - 104.  That’s right… this is either a 30 point revenge game or another big loss.

The San Antonio Spurs have also only won 4 of their last ten games.  The Spurs have better coaching, but maybe not such a better roster. The stretch of the last ten games has included some murderers with losses to the Memphis Grizzlies, the Phoenix Suns (twice), the Golden State Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Brooklyn Nets.  Those are good teams, those are all playoff teams (though Brooklyn is dropping like a stone). Spurs’ leading scorer Dejounte Murray has been in and out of the lineup with a right wrist sprain.  Dejounte Murray is one of those guys who is clearly the best player on a losing team… that dismays his agent and the GM of the Spurs… other teams aren’t sure if that means he is exceptional or just the only good player… which means they aren’t offering the Spurs for him at the draft deadline… also they won’t pony up a max to get him when he is a free agent.  It’s losses all around.

Al McMordie SWEPT THE BOARD yesterday with Bucknell and Vanderbilt, and is back in action in the NBA tonight, on Wednesday. Don't miss Big Al's NBA Non-Division Game of the Month, as it's out of a 100% Perfect, 12-0 ATS angle. Get the 13th Winner in a Row right here, and WIN BIG on Thursday!Go get it! Get Big Als’ picks right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers. NCAAF, NFL, MLB, college football… get positive value from all your bets! Expert picks!  Fun fact… winning a wager is much better than making a wager!

Houston is 15-36 on the season, but 22-28-1 ATS.  They have logged 29 Overs and 22 Unders.  They are 7-20 in road games.

The Spurs are 19-33 on the season, but 27-25 ATS.  They have notched 26 Overs, 24 Unders, and 2 Push.  They are 10-17 in home games.

The Rockets are 17th in scoring with 108.4 ppg, 28th in rebounds with 42.8 per game, and 30th in AST/TO with 1.4. They are mediocre shooters at 20th in FG%, 19th in 3PT%, and 30th in FT%.  They are much worse on defense than shooting, where they rank 30th while allowing 116.7 ppg from opponents!  You simply can not win many games while allowing 8 more points than you score on average.

The Spurs are 9th in scoring with 111.4 ppg, 8th in rebounds with 45.7 per game, and 1st in AST/TO ratio with 2.2.  They are shooting 9th in FG%, 13th in 3PT%, and 26th in FT%.  The downfall for the Spurs is the 25th ranking on defense where they allow 111.6 ppg from opponents.  It’s only a fraction of a point more than they score… but that fraction will keep you out of the playoffs every time.

Our prediction for Friday, February 4th is….  Rockets 109 - Spurs 107

The Spurs will not win.  They are missing too many important pieces for a humdrum losing team to overcome.  The Rockets won’t win many this season… so get some cash on what could be their best chance.

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San Antonio is 6-2 ATS versus Houston over the last 3 seasons.

San Antonio is 2-2 ATS versus Houston at San Antonio the last 3 seasons.

5 of 8 games in this series have gone UNDER.

Rockets: PF Usman Garuba (wrist) Out ** PG John Wall (not injured) Out for season

Spurs: PF Zach Collins (conditioning) Out **  C Jakob Poeltl (concussion) Out ** PG Dejounte Murray (wrist) Quest ** SF D McDermott (ankle) Quest ** SF Keita Bates-Diop (conditioning) Out

Rockets: PF Jae’sean Tate, SF Eric Gordon, C Christian Wood, SG Jalen Green, PG Kevin Porter Jr

Spurs: SF Keldon Johnson, PF Doug McDermott, C Jakob Poeltl, Sg Derrick White, PG Dejounte Murray

Rockets

Points: Christian Wood 17.7 ppg, 

Assists: Kevin Porter Jr 6.2

Rebounds: Christian Wood 10.3

Steals: Kevin Porter Jr 1.2

Blocks: Christian Wood 0.9

Spurs

Points: Dejounte Murray 19.6

Assists: Dejounte Murray 9.1

Rebounds: Jakob Poeltl 9.0

Steals: Dejounte Murray 2.0

Blocks: Jakob Poeltl 1.7

Rockets: Stephen Silas

Spurs: Gregg Popovich