Houston Rockets vs Miami Heat Prediction

Houston Rockets vs Miami Heat Prediction

Another cross-conference matchup awaits the Houston Rockets overnight as they host the Miami Heat (10-14), targeting an unlikely but welcome win despite being understaffed with leading points scorer Christian Wood (ankle) sidelined and offseason acquisition John Wall doubtful to feature here. 

Can they? Or will Miami build on a three-game winning streak away from home comforts this time around? Read my basketball preview, for the best betting odds ahead of this compelling H2H matchup.

Houston Rockets vs Miami Heat Preview

Miami's away record (3-7) doesn't exactly make for good reading, though Erik Spoelstra's men will be quietly confident they can continue improving those statistics on Friday morning. 

They face a depleted Houston side at the Toyota Center, who are missing the aforementioned Wood while John Wall (19.2 pts, 3.7 rebs, 6 ast per game) is listed as day-to-day on their injury report with a sprained ankle. It's likely he'll play but will do so at a level that's not 100%, and it wouldn't be surprising if they targeted him as such. 

Sure, they have their own injuries to deal with too: Goran Dragic (ankle) and offseason acquisition Avery Bradley (calf) in particular, but they'll learn to roll with the punches and embrace the challenge - as a team who overperformed expectations last season, kept their core together and want to do even better this year.

They squeezed past the New York Knicks last time out, centred on big nights for five-time All-Star forward Jimmy Butler (26 pts, 10 ast, 8 rebs) as well as PF Kelly Olynyk (20 pts, 6 3 pm, 3 rebs). Who will step up here? 

Houston Rockets vs Miami Heat Betting Tips

ESPN's BPI is firmly expecting Miami to prevail in this encounter (67.1%) and judging by Houston's injuries, that's not exactly surprising either. 

Victor Oladipo (right quad) didn't feature in the Rockets' blowout loss against New Orleans last time out, and they need more production from DeMarcus Cousins (1-of-8, 7 pts and 7 rebs) and others.

After all, they want to justify themselves as a team truly respected under promising first-year head coach Stephen Silas, after James Harden's acrimonious departure last month. However, I don't see that happening in the short-term with Wood - their best player - sidelined. I'm predicting a Heat win here.