The Houston Rockets get set to clash against the Portland Trail Blazers Wednesday night inside the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. They tip it off at 8:00 pm. The Rockets are playing much better this season, while Portland is struggling and amid a rebuild. Bookmaker has installed the Rockets as a heavy 9-point favorite. 

The Rockets have hit a snag of late and they have dropped six of eight overall and now sit two games under .500 on the season. They have some issues closing out games late and they also need to get better offensive production from their bench. 

As a whole, on offense, they are led by 21-year-old center Alperen Sangun, who is leading the team in scoring with around 22 a game to go along with a career-high 9.2 boards in just his third season in the league. He is a nice building block for the franchise and a player that they need to surround with some more talent if they believe they can compete in the Western Conference over the next several years.

They need veteran point guard Fred VanFleet to step up more and take on more of a scoring role first, as opposed to looking to dish and assist. He is averaging around 18 a game and is handing out around nine assists per game. They are not asking him to be selfish but they need him to also be the type of natural scorer he was when he was with Toronto as he guided them into the playoffs many times. 

The Raptors connected on 55% from the floor, including 34% from beyond the arc. They need to hit down their open looks in this one. 

The Trail Blazers have had a rough go of it and they are in the midst of a horrible season as they come into this one having gotten smoked by the Los Angeles Lakers, 134-110, and in the process just saw their brief two-game winning streak halted. This comes after they dropped four straight and seven of eight overall as they sit 18 games under .500 on the season.

On offense, they are led by 29-year-old small forward Jerami Grant, who is averaging just over 20 points per game and around four rebounds per contest. Portland needs to do a better job of crashing the boards and winning the battle on the boards. They get outrebounded in games and they have to find a way to control the glass against the Raptors. 

Portland also drains around 48% from the floor and that is below the league average and they need to do a better job of connecting on open looks.

The Rockets are 1-4 in their last five games and 1-4 in their last five games against the number too. They are 6-12 in their road games against the spread. Portland is 2-3 in their last five games and 3-2 in their last five games against the number and a solid 10-13 in their road games against the number too.