San Antonio Spurs vs. Houston Rockets: 3 Best Bets

The San Antonio Spurs travel East to take on the Houston Rockets, who are a remarkable 9-1 at home this season.

The San Antonio Spurs travel to Houston to take on Alperen Sengun and the Houston Rockets later tonight. The Rockets are an imposing 9-1 on their home court, and the Spurs have now gone over a month without a win.

The Spurs beat Houston in overtime for their first win of the season in October, which was one of only a few high points this young team has experienced. In that game, Houston's balanced plan of attack was no match for Devin Vassell’s 25 points and Victor Wembanyama’s double-double.

Jeremy Sochan is expected to start at power forward.  / Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

The Spurs have been criticized all season for starting Jeremy Sochan at point guard. Still, reports from The Athletic suggest that the experiment is over and Sochan will remain a ball handler, but not the primary one. As the Spurs transition to traditional basketball, fans hope it will result in wins.

The Spurs have a clean injury report tonight, and the Rockets will be without Victor Oladipo. Rookie Amen Thompson is listed as questionable. Below are our best bets, powered by the lines at SI Sportsbook.

The Lines

Point spread: Rockets -8.5 (-118)/Spurs +8.6 (+105)

Moneyline: Rockets: (-376)/Spurs (+280)

Over/under: 223.5

Our Picks

Safe pick: Devin Vassell OVER 18.5 points (-110)

If the Spurs are serious about making some adjustments in the backcourt, Devin Vassell will have the ball in his hands more often, which means more shots. He is coming off a 15-point, four-of-15 game against the Bulls, but before that, he had the hot hand. With increased responsibility, he should see more offensive output and there is no reason to think he can’t bounce back from a rough outing.

Opponent pick: Alperen Sengun UNDER 10.5 rebounds (+100)

Sengun is averaging 9.1 boards per game and hasn’t been on a rebounding tear over his last five games, either. If the Spurs start Sochan, Wembanyama, and Keldon Johnson, then Sengun will have a tough time finding any easy rebounds. With Sochan slotting back into the forward position, the Spurs effectively have a new rebounder in the starting five, so Sengun should not do better than his average.

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Defense pick: Victor Wembanyama OVER 2.5 blocks (+110)

This summer, a video went viral of Wembanyama celebrating Houston landing the fourth overall pick, meaning they would miss out on drafting him. Jabari Smith Jr. took that personally, Tweeting and then deleting the notepad emoji. That was several months ago, but lingering bitterness might still exist. Smith Jr. will take the ball to the rack more often than usual tonight, and even if most of his shots fall, plenty will get swatted away by Wembanyama.