NBA Best Bets for Rockets at Mavericks for December 29th

Ruinous Rockets

For the Rockets sitting bottom of the conference, with an appalling record, it is certainly game over already this early in the season for them and it would be wise to “tank” this season and begin again next season following strong draft picks should they get them.

One player who’s been a bright spark in the team is Kevin Porter Jr. a point guard they don’t believe to be starting quality yet has their second highest points average in the team and leads the team in steals.

Averaging 1.4 steals per game and 19.3 points per game, he is certainly someone who can be the future of this franchise should they retain him. One main concern to have for his game is his turnover statistic, his average of 3.7 turnovers per game is something that the Rockets need to address.

The Pick

This game won’t be settled on fast break offense and defense. The Mavericks currently sit bottom of NBA fast break scoring with 9.9 fast break points per game, while the Rockets score higher in 26th with 11.6 per game.

However, Dallas sit 11th for fast break defense in the league, allowing 13.0 points per game. The Rockets have the worst in the league sitting bottom giving up an average of 17.6 fast break points per game. 

The fast break may well be nullified but Dallas has a chance to increase their average this game against the worst team in these situations in the league, while Dallas won’t give up points easily to a team who already do not score much on the fast break.

With the Mavericks so high in the three-point scoring percentage, this is where they pile the misery on for the Rockets who sit 29th in three-point defense with 42.4 per game while Dallas has a solid defensive game against shooting from beyond the perimeter, fourth in the league only allowing 33.2 per game. 

An easy pick here with the Rockets performing so poorly this season and the Mavericks flying so high guided by Luka you would have to take the Mavericks to come away with this one.