Houston Rockets at San Antonio Spurs (-12, 205)

The San Antonio Spurs got a look at just how far away they are from being the best team in the NBA on Monday, but they’re still a solid No. 2. The Spurs will try to stay undefeated at home when they return to host the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.

San Antonio went into a hotly-anticipated meeting with the Golden State Warriors on Monday riding a 13-game winning streak but came out of it with a 120-90 loss. "It was like men and boys out there (Monday), I thought, as far as the toughness and the aggressiveness was concerned," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters. "In every facet of the game, it was men and boys.”

The Rockets are enjoying a string of three straight wins but were ripped 121-103 in a visit to San Antonio on Jan. 2. James Harden was held to 17 points in that loss but is averaging 30.3 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in the last four contests.

LINE: Overnight odds went out with San Antonio as a 12-point home favorite with the total at 205 points. Books opened the Spurs as 10.5-point favorites and that has been bet down to -10.

POWER RANKINGS: Rockets (-1.5) - Spurs (-18) + home court (-3.0) = San Antonio -19.5

INJURIES: Rockets - Dwight Howard C (Questionable - ankle), Spurs - Tim Duncan PF (Questionable - knee)

TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN, ROOT (Houston), KENS (San Antonio)

WHAT SHARPS SAY: "San Antonio comes into this game off a 30-point loss in Golden State on Monday night, but I wouldn’t put too much stock into that defeat. The Spurs will likely meet the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals, and Popovich is a shrewd coach who didn’t want to show Golden State anything in that game. San Antonio should play better now off a loss. Houston is playing solid basketball now, but they still play little defense and Dwight Howard has missed recent games with injury." - Covers Expert Steve Merril.

WHAT BOOKS SAY: "The Spurs have won three of the last four meetings including a 121-103 victory at home on January second. Dwight Howard will be making the trip but it is still unclear if he will play. Same goes for Duncan who has been out with soar knees. I suspect the Spurs will rebound from their 30-point drubbing at the hands of the Warriors Monday night." - Michael Stewart, CarbonGaming.ag.

ABOUT THE ROCKETS (25-22, 20-27 ATS): Harden led the way with 35 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in a 112-111 win at New Orleans on Monday to kick off a three-game trip that concludes at Oklahoma City on Friday. “He was great again. He was flirting with another triple-double,” Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff told reporters of Harden. “When he does that, we’re hard to beat. He’s sharing the ball, he’s rebounding.” Harden is getting plenty of help of late from small forward Trevor Ariza, who is averaging 30 points in the last two games while going 14-of-20 from 3-point range.

ABOUT THE SPURS (38-7, 30-15 ATS): San Antonio entered Monday’s contest leading the NBA with a scoring defense that yielded an average of 89.8 points but yielded more than that through the first three quarters as the game quickly got out of hand. “They outplayed us in every single aspect of the game,” reserve guard Manu Ginobili told reporters. “Aggression was one, shooting was another one, defense, everything. It was the whole package. I don't think there was one area in which it was close. We were slow, not every sharp. It was no game." All seven of the Spurs’ losses have come on the road, and the team is an NBA-best 24-0 at home.

CHEERLEADER WAR:

TRENDS:

- Home team is 8-0 ATS in last eight meetings.
- Over is 5-1 in last six meetings in San Antonio.
- Over is 4-1 in last five meetings.
- Rockets are 9-3 ATS in last 12 meetings.
- Favorite is 5-2 ATS in last 7 meetings.

TWEET BEAT:

CONSENSUS: 54 percent of Covers Consensus is on San Antonio while 69 percent are on the Over.
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