Nets VS Rockets

The Brooklyn Nets welcome the Houston Rockets to Barclays Center on Wednesday. Here's the betting preview of the contest.

Houston comes into this game on a six-game losing streak as they have been one of the worse teams in the league this season. Both the Brooklyn Nets and the Houston Rockets have been going through rough patches lately. The Nets have had uneven performances in their recent games as they have had stretches of time where both sides of the ball struggle immensely. In their most recent game, a 119-106 loss to the Orlando Magic on Sunday, the Nets were competitive for the first half before running out of gas in the second half. In the first game, a Nets 118-96 on Mar. Brooklyn leads the regular-season series 1-0.

Houston is thriving at the bottom of the Western Conference standings while riding a 6-game losing streak. The Nets, meanwhile, are sitting a half game ahead of ...

Clax has been handling the bulk of the interior responsibilities for the Nets, and he’s continued to add on to his game. Brooklyn has gotten better on the boards over the past few games and if they’re able to keep exceeding expectations, they’ll have a chance to keep their slim half game lead on the They’re seventh in the league in drives and third in shots inside the restricted area. However, they have the fifth worst shooting percentage on drives and fourth worst inside the restricted area. There are no “true” gimmes in the NBA but man the Nets really need this win and it would be such a buzzkill if they didn’t get it. Houston Rockets (18-58)

Wednesday's matchup between the Rockets and Nets is a rare opportunity for Houston to boost its 2023 draft lottery outlook by winning.

Edmond Sumner (right hip contusion) is questionable for the Nets. Overall, Houston has lost six straight games after a three-game winning streak. (Though it should be noted that while their odds of landing one of the four lottery picks would benefit from defeating Brooklyn, Houston’s “pick floor” If extrapolated to a full-season pace, that would make Brooklyn one of the NBA’s five worst teams, which makes owning its future draft capital quite attractive. Those assets were acquired by Houston as part of the James Harden trade in January 2021. Over the last three seasons of Houston’s franchise rebuild, maximizing draft capital for the Rockets has largely depended on them losing games.