Houston Rockets vs. Miami Heat Prop Pick: Will Alperen Sengun Struggle Against the Heat Tonight?
The Houston Rockets will visit the Miami Heat on Monday night. Will Alperen Sengun have a tough time scoring on the road against a staunch Heat defense? Ben Rajavuori provides his top prop pick in Rockets vs. Heat.
Ben Rajavuori - January 8, 2024, 5:50 PM EST
5 minHouston Rockets vs. Miami Heat Prop Pick: Will Alperen Sengun Struggle Against the Heat Tonight?
The 20-15 Miami Heat host the 18-16 Houston Rockets from the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida tonight. The Rockets enter tonight's game off a huge win against the Milwaukee Bucks, beating them 112-108 in Houston on Sunday. The Heat enter this game off a loss to the Suns, as they still are without Jimmy Butler and Caleb Martin. What should we expect tonight?
Rockets vs. Heat Date, Time, and Where to Watch
- Date: January 8, 2024
- Game Time: 7:30 pm ET
- Where to Watch: NBA League Pass
Houston Rockets vs. Miami Heat Prediction
The player I’m looking at tonight is Rockets big man Alperen Sengun. Sengun is in his third year with the Rockets now and this is the first year that he has started every game he has played in so far. Sengun leads the Rockets with 21.4 points per game. He also leads them in rebounds, grabbing nine per game, and he is also second on the team with 5.1 assists. He has been the main man on offense for them, as he has led them in production. However, I think he will struggle tonight. The Miami Heat are a good defensive team, but they especially excel at defending the paint, thanks to Bam Adebayo. Bam Adebayo is currently fifth in defensive player of the year odds in the NBA, and he absolutely shuts down the paint every game. Not many centers face the Miami Heat and have good games. In fact, the Heat give up the least amount of points per game to centers, allowing just 19.3 points per game to big men. This is in part of the defense of Bam Adebayo, but the defense of Miami overall. On top of Adebayo, both of these teams are not fast-paced teams. The Rockets rank 26th in the NBA in pace of play, while the Miami Heat rank 27th in pace of play. both teams also have a better defensive rating than they do offensive rating, so we should expect to see a low-scoring, slow-paced game. That, in turn, favors player prop unders. Sengun is set at 22.5 points tonight, which is actually above his season average. I do not think he scores above his season average against the team that defends centers the best. I like Sengun to go under 22.5 tonight.
Houston Rockets vs. Miami Heat Pick
Pick: Alperen Sengun Under 22.5 Points (-125) Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds
NBA Odds
