The set-up: The Houston Rockets are humming along nicely of late, displaying effective chemistry on both sides of the ball. Houston made a big statement with its 120-88 rout in Cleveland Saturday night against the Cavaliers on ABC. The Rockets made 19 three-pointers (Houston leads the NBA by a wide margin with 43 three-point attempts per game), giving them a fourth straight win and 11 victories over the last 13 games. There will be national TV 'stage' tonight in Brooklyn, when teh Rockets visit Barclays Center for a contest with the 19-35 Nets. Brooklyn lost 109-94 to Milwaukee on Sunday to fall to 1-2 on their four-game homestand, leaving them eight games shy of the playoff 'cut line,' as the trade deadline approaches.

Houston: Harden (31.2-9.0-9.1) can still dominate the conversation for Houston from time to time (see his 60-point triple-double a week ago) but other components are also going well for the Western Conference's second-best team. Houston is 11-2 in its last 13 games (since Jan. 8) and before the Rockets began this run with a 116-107 win at Chicago, Houston had followed up a 14-game winning streak with seven losses in nine games. The Rockets are now 38-13, comfortably in second place in the West and inching closer to Golden State (two games back). Houston is six games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs. Paul (19.2-5.7-8.5) had 22 points and 11 assists and Ryan Anderson (10.2 & 5.4) added 21 points on Saturday as Houston had no issues overcoming an off night for the NBA's leading scorer, James Harden (16 points, going just 1-of-11 from three-point range). Houston ranks second in scoring at 114.0 PPG but another sign of progress in the last few weeks has been on the defensive side. Although the Rockets are in the middle of the pack by allowing 105.7 PPG (16th), they are allowing 101.8 in the last 13 while posting a 102.5 defensive rating in that stretch.

Brooklyn: The Nets have lost six of their last seven after Sunday's loss to the Bucks (see above), while getting held under 100 points in five of their last six outings. Brooklyn has been outrebounded by 18 in back-to-back games, something which may continue here, as the team's leading rebounder is forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (6.5) has missed five games in a row with a groin injury and has already been ruled out for this one. The Nets are the NBA's worst shooting team at 43.6% but rank a middle-of-the-road in points scored, at 104.9 PPG. Defensively, Brooklyn allows 108.7 PPG to rank 24th.

The pick: Houston has won three straight matchups with Brooklyn and the Rockets are looking to sweep the season series for the eighth time in the last 12 seasons. Harden scored 37 points and added 10 rebounds while Paul finished with four points and a season-high 14 assists in a 117-103 win over the Nets at home earlier this season (Nov. 27). Brooklyn has been able to slip inside inflated numbers vs. Houston since last season, including a 14-point loss (as a 17 ½-point dog) on Nov. 27 at Toyota Center. The Nets could just 'hang around' in this home dog role and with both teams trending "under" lately, I look for a higher scoring game than the total indicates. Note that in Houston's three-game winning streak over Brooklyn, the Rockets have scored 117 points (TY), plus 122 and 137 points in two meetings LY. Make the Over a 10* play!