On the 2nd night of the back-to-back, Dallas Mavericks will host Houston Rockets. Dallas is the 6th best team in the Western Conference with 8 wins and 5 losses while the Rockets are in the last place with only 2 wins in 14 games. In this Texas derby, I'm going with the Rockets to cover the handicap.

Of course, the main reason why I'm picking Houston to cover the handicap is that Luka Doncic won't play tonight. He's been very dominant this season but without him, there are no real threats to Houston. Although there's a huge difference in the win column, both teams are averaging almost the same number of points per game (109.9 and 109.6 in favor of Dallas).

The Mavericks have lost only 1 time this season at home but out of the 7 wins only 1 has been by a comfortable margin as Dallas crushed the Grizzlies by 137:96. Dallas beat Orlando by 9 points but the next 6 wins have been by not more than 5 points and that is very concerning because in many games Dallas has blown huge leads. Out of 10 away games, Houston has won only one. Out of the 9 losses away from home, the Rockets have been close to their opponents in 4 games - against the Hawks (-10), Jazz (-8), Clippers (-2) and Raptors (-7). According to data, Houston has had the strongest schedule so far this season.

There's one category where the Rockets have beaten the Mavericks. That is covering the spread. Houston has covered the spread 6 times in 14 games and on the road, the team has covered it in half of the games. Dallas is the worst team in the league by covering the handicap as they have done it only 3 times in 13 games. The situation is even worse at home where the Mavericks have covered the handicap only 1 time! As Luka Doncic won't play tonight, I'm more than confident that it is going to be a very close game and Houston should be able to compete for the 3rd win this season.

本译文使用有道机器翻译，仅供参考：

背靠背比赛的第二天晚上，达拉斯小牛队将主场迎战休斯顿火箭队。达拉斯以8胜5负排名西部第六，而火箭14场比赛只赢了2场，排在西部最后。在这场德州德比中，我要和火箭一起去弥补劣势。

当然，我选择休斯顿来弥补缺陷的主要原因是卢卡·东契奇今晚不会上场。他本赛季的统治力很强，但没有他，火箭就没有真正的威胁。尽管两队在胜率上存在巨大差异，但两队场均得分几乎相同(达拉斯为109.9分，达拉斯为109.6分)。

小牛队本赛季只在主场输了1场，但在7场胜利中，只有1场是轻松获胜，达拉斯以137:96大胜灰熊。小牛以9分的优势击败了奥兰多，但是接下来的6场胜利都不超过5分，这非常令人担忧，因为在很多场比赛中，小牛都失去了巨大的领先优势。在10场客场比赛中，火箭只赢了一场。在9场客场失利中，火箭有4场比赛与对手接近，分别是老鹰(负10)、爵士(负8)、快船(负2)和猛龙(负7)。数据显示，休斯顿本赛季的赛程是最强的。

有一种情况是火箭打败了小牛队。这是覆盖差价。火箭在14场比赛中6次突破了三分线，在客场比赛中，他们有一半的比赛都突破了三分线。小牛是联盟中最糟糕的球队，因为他们在13场比赛中只做了3次。在小牛主场的情况更糟，他们只完成了1次障碍!由于卢卡·东契奇今晚不会上场，我非常有信心这将是一场势均力敌的比赛，火箭应该能够争夺本赛季的第三胜。