The Houston Rockets (9-3) lead the Southwest division through the first month of the season. The Rockets travel to Cleveland on Wednesday to face the 10-5 Cavaliers in the matchup of the night in the NBA.
The offseason acquisition of future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant from Phoenix has invigorated this Houston team, who hope to show that last season’s 52-30 record was not a fluke.
The Cavaliers owned the top record in the Eastern Conference last season and are shooting for their third straight win tonight.
Let’s look at the Rockets vs. Cavaliers prediction and picks for Wednesday night’s battle at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, tipping off at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Rockets vs. Cavaliers Prediction, Wednesday NBA Picks
- The Rockets are riding a four-game winning streak since suffering a 121-110 loss at San Antonio on November 7.
- Houston rallied past Orlando in overtime on Sunday, 117-113. The Rockets erased a 14-point deficit to improve to 10-1 in the last 11 games after their 0-2 start.
- The Cavs began November with four consecutive victories, but are 3-2 in the last five games.
- Cleveland is coming off back-to-back home wins over Memphis and Milwaukee. The Cavs beat the Bucks on Sunday, 118-106 in spite of Milwaukee hitting 47% from 3-point range.
- The Rockets swept the Cavaliers last season, winning both matchups by a combined five points.
- Houston has compiled a strong 6-1 mark against Eastern Conference opponents. The lone loss came to Detroit on October 24, who currently owns the top record in the East.
- The Rockets will be without F Tari Eason (11.5 ppg) for the next four to six weeks with a hip injury. Rockets F Jabari Smith, Jr. (14.5 ppg) is listed as questionable with a knee injury.
- The Cavaliers are hit with the injury bug as well with G Darius Garland (toe) out tonight, while G Sam Merrill is a game-time decision, dealing with a hand issue.
Houston Rockets
- The Rockets have shot better on the road this season than at home, converting 50.3% from the floor and 43.6% from 3-point range away from Toyota Center.
- Houston’s net rating at home is +14, but slips to +9 on the road.
- The Rockets rank near the bottom of the league in pace, sitting 27th in that category at 98.5.
Cleveland Cavaliers
- Cleveland owns the seventh-highest pace in the NBA, but that number drops to 13th at home.
- The Cavs are tied with the Knicks for 19th in field goal percentage at 45.9%
- Cleveland’s net rating has dipped from last season, going from +9.2 to +4.7 this season.
Rockets vs. Cavaliers Prediction, Wednesday NBA Picks
Here are three top Rockets vs. Cavaliers picks to target on Wednesday. Key PrizePicks player projections are headlined by Houston F Kevin Durant, Cleveland G Donovan Mitchell, and Rockets C Alperen Sengun.
Rockets F Kevin Durant vs. Cavaliers Projection: 25.5 Points
- Durant hasn’t skipped a beat in his first season with Houston, averaging 25.9 ppg.
- KD is coming off consecutive 30+ point outings for the first time this season. He scored 35 points in Sunday’s win over Orlando, hitting a season-high 13 shots.
- In six road games, Durant is putting up 24.3 ppg, 3 points lower than his home average.
- Durant’s top two shooting performances came on the road. He knocked down 73.3% of his shots at Milwaukee on November 9, while drilling 72.7% of his attempts at Boston on November 1.
- In Durant’s most recent matchup with Cleveland last season as a member of the Suns, he scored 42 points in a 123-112 victory.
Cavaliers G Donovan Mitchell vs. Rockets Projection: 28.5 Points
- Averaging a career-high 30.9 ppg, Spida is coming off a 37-point effort in Monday’s victory over Milwaukee.
- In five of the last six home outings, Mitchell has topped the 30-point mark.
- In the only game he scored fewer than 30, he was limited to 29 points in a 128-122 win over Chicago on November 8.
- At home, the Louisville product averages 33.4 ppg, a 10-point increase from last season.
- Mitchell has hit at least 60% of his shots from the field in four games, including in Monday’s game. In the following game, he hasn’t scored more than 24 points.
Rockets C Alperen Sengun vs. Cavaliers Projection: 32.5 Pts+Rebs
- Sengun is putting together a career season, averaging 23.0 ppg and 10.3 rebounds per game.
- The Turkish standout has compiled a double-double in seven of the last eight games.
- Sengun attempted a season-high 31 shots against Orlando on Sunday, while scoring 30 points.
- The All-Star averaged 22.0 ppg and 9.5 rpg in two matchups with Cleveland last season.
- In two of the last three road contests, Sengun eclipsed 33 points+rebounds.
- His best combined points and rebounds performance came in the season-opening loss at Oklahoma City, scoring 39 points and grabbing 11 boards.
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The Rockets and Cavaliers own two of the top records in the NBA as Houston looks to stay red-hot with a road victory on Wednesday.
There’s never been a better time to add to the excitement of every NBA moment than with PrizePicks.
There is a wide variety of player stat projections on the NBA board, so you can build your Lineup however you’d like — with no salary or positional restrictions. Just pick at least two player stat projections to build your Lineup on PrizePicks.
Check out the Playbook throughout the remainder of the NBA season for more analysis for your PrizePicks and NBA DFS Lineups.
