The Houston Rockets are eyeing on a third win in a row on Monday night when they hit the road to take on the Indiana Pacers and Pascal Siakam.<\/p>\n
After an NBA Finals appearance last season, the Pacers have had their 2025-26 season derailed by injuries, although they have played better as of late. Rick Carlislie\u2019s group is 5-5 in its last 10 games, improving to 10-16 at home despite having just 13 total wins this season.<\/p>\n
Houston is a .500 team on the road (13-13), and it may have its work cut out for it against a scrappy Indiana team that has knocked off the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks in back-to-back games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Plus, the Rockets are down Kevin Durant (ankle) in this game, leaving them with a lot less offensive firepower on Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The play-in tournament isn\u2019t really in play for Indiana, but it\u2019s starting to show some signs of life to potentially avoid the worst record in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n
Can it spoil this game for a Rockets team that is trying to finish in the top four in the Western Conference?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s examine the odds, a player to watch in the prop market and my prediction for Monday\u2019s contest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rockets vs. Pacers Odds, Spread and Total<\/p>\n
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook<\/a><\/p>\n Spread<\/p>\n Rockets -6.5 (-108)Pacers +6.5 (-112)<\/p>\n Moneyline<\/p>\n Rockets: -245Pacers: +200<\/p>\n Total<\/p>\n 219.5 (Over -105\/Under -115)Rockets vs. Pacers How to WatchDate: Monday, Feb. 2Time: 7:00 p.m. ESTVenue: Gainbridge FieldhouseHow to Watch (TV): Space City Network, FanDuel Sports Network (Local)Rockets record: 30-17Pacers record: 13-36Rockets vs. Pacers Injury ReportsRockets Injury ReportKevin Durant \u2013 outFred VanVleet \u2013 outSteven Adams \u2013 outIsaiah Crawford \u2013 questionableTristen Newton \u2013 outPacers Injury ReportObi Toppin \u2013 outTyrese Haliburton \u2013 outTaelon Peter \u2013 doubtfulEthan Thompson \u2013 doubtfulRockets vs. Pacers Best NBA Prop BetsRockets Best NBA Prop BetReed Sheppard OVER 21.5 Points, Rebounds and Assists (-101)<\/p>\n Earlier today, I shared in my NBA Best Bets column \u2013 Peter\u2019s Points<\/a> \u2013 why I\u2019m backing Sheppard with Kevin Durant (ankle) out of the lineup:\u00a0<\/p>\n This season, Reed Sheppard is averaging 12.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game while shooting 42.9 percent from the field and 39.0 percent from 3-point range. The former top-three pick has had some big games offensively this season, including a 31-point, nine-rebound, five-assist game in one of the two matchups that Durant missed.<\/p>\n While I’m not expecting that big of a game from Sheppard, I do think he’ll have an expanded role in the offense on Monday. Sheppard’s points prop is up at 15.5 at DraftKings, but his rebounds and assists props have stayed relatively the same (2.5 and 3.5). I think that makes him a little undervalued, as someone has to initiate offense for this Houston team with Durant out.<\/p>\n Sheppard started both of the games KD missed earlier this season, and he has scored in double figures in six of his last nine games. I wouldn’t be shocked to see the second-year guard have one of his better scoring games of the season, especially since the Pacers rank 28th in the NBA in points per game allowed to opposing point guards (27.07 per night).<\/p>\n Rockets vs. Pacers Prediction and Pick<\/p>\n Another play from today\u2019s Peter\u2019s Points<\/a>, I\u2019m backing the Pacers to cover the spread in this game:\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite their terrible record this season, the Pacers are one of the best teams in the NBA against the spread as home underdogs, going 13-7.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s helped Indiana to a respectable 10-16 record overall at home, despite the fact that the team has lost key players again and again this season. Indy is pretty healthy heading into Monday\u2019s clash with Houston, as only Tyrese Haliburton and Obi Toppin have been ruled out.<\/p>\n That should give the Pacers a chance to compete with the Rockets, who are down Kevin Durant and come into this game with some shaky road numbers.<\/p>\n Houston is 13-13 straight up on the road and 10-12 against the spread as a road favorite. In the team\u2019s 26 road games, it has a net rating of +4.8 \u2013 one of the best marks in the NBA \u2013 but can it keep that going without Durant?<\/p>\n Houston is +6.8 points per 100 possessions with Durant on the floor this season, but it\u2019s just +4.1 points per 100 possessions when he\u2019s off. Plus, the Rockets\u2019 clutch-time offense (games within five points in the final five minutes) has struggled all season, as they\u2019re 20th in offensive rating.\u00a0<\/p>\n If the Pacers can hang around, Houston is going to have to find someone other than Durant to carry the team down the stretch.\u00a0<\/p>\n Indy has played better as of late, winning five of its last 10 games and two in a row. While I wouldn’t bet on the Pacers to win outright, I do think they can cover a two-possession spread on Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pick: Pacers +6.5 (-112 at DraftKings)<\/a><\/p>\n Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.<\/p>\n If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/p>\n Find Peter Dewey’s\u00a0NBA betting record here<\/a>\u00a0(futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on \u00a0BetStamp here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Claim the latest\u00a0DraftKings promo code<\/a>\u00a0offer today. Sign up and win your first $5 bet to get\u00a0$300 in bonus bets instantly.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Houston Rockets are eyeing on a third win in a row on Monday night when they hit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449350,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-449349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}