NBA Betting Action - Houston Rockets at Memphis Grizzlies

The online betting action that is slated to get underway at 8 PM ET at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

BetUS NBA Basketball Sports Betting Odds: HOUSTON -7, Total 192.5

Here are some of the NBA pro basketball sports betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* HOU has won six of its last eight games SU

* HOU has played seven of its last eight games OVER the total

* HOU has won and covered four of its last five road games

* HOU has played its last five road games OVER the total

* MEM has lost eight of its last nine games SU

* MEM has covered one of its last nine games

* MEM has played five of its last six games OVER the total

* MEM has lost five of its last seven home games SU

* MEM has covered two of its last seven home games

* MEM has played five of its last seven home games OVER the total

Also....

* HOU has covered four of the last six meetings

* HOU has won eight of the last nine meetings SU

* Seventeen of the last 23 meetings have gone UNDER the total

* HOU has covered four of the last six meetings as the road team

* Seven of the last eight meetings in Memphis have gone UNDER the total

The first meeting between these teams this season was very ugly. Memphis shot 38%, Houston shot 37%, and O.J. Mayo was only five-for-20 from the field in the 82-71 Houston victory. Things have gotten better for Mayo, who's now a 47% shooter averaging 21 points a game. And the Rockets have lost Tracy McGrady for a while as he rests his knee.

Houston has been making more three-pointers than usual; in fact, 33 in the last three games. If they continue to do that, and do it with any kind of authority, the Grizzlies, who average just 4.5 field goals a game from beyond the arc, are going to have a hard time trading points. Here's what's been really tough for Memphis - the opponent has shot 52% or better in five of their last six games. That makes inefficient offensive teams a lot better. And that is a big disappointment considering Marc Lavaroni brought in assistant coach Kevin O'Neill before the season to instill a more defensive attitude in this team. For a while it looked like it was working, but the Grizzlies have had a regression. In the last five games, they have allowed 45% shooting and over 102 points per game.

Compare that with Houston, who may have allowed Golden State to shoot 54% in Friday night's 131-112 victory, but that was only the third time all season that an opponent has topped the 50% mark against them.

The oddsmaker seems to have been setting the totals too low for Houston lately, as the Rockets have gone "over" in seven of its last eight games, and each of its last five as the visitor. What we're expecting here is that Houston will set the same kind of pace, and see if Memphis can keep up with it. But inasmuch as there has been more three-point activity on the part of this team, it wouldn't surprise us at all if they went over 100 for the seventh time in the last nine games. So we're going to move OVER the total of 192.5, as it is posted in the BetUS NBA odds.

JAY'S PLAY: OVER 192.5 **

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

(Charles Jay of http://www.ebookies.com makes his share of shots from downtown as a contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)