The Houston Rockets made some adjustments to the way they do business right before the NBA had to go on break. They made the decision to go smaller as a way of making themselves more difficult to defend. But at the same time they had to take some measures to maintain a respectable defensive posture. BetAnySports customers who have considered leaning in their direction might be anxious to see that happen.

They will have to improve on the stop end if they are going to mount a serious challenge for the NBA title. That quest continues on Tuesday night as they take on the Portland Trail Blazers in a game that tips off at 9:05 PM ET at The Arena outside of Orlando.

The Rockets (42-24 SU, 31-35 ATS) have two of the more imposing offensive weapons in the NBA with Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Having to coordinate the efforts of two players who really need the ball to be effective is problem enough. But they made the decision to do it with less size.

General manager Daryl Morey decided that his team was better off playing "small ball" as a way of creating matchup disadvantages. So he dealt away center Clint Capela, who was effective in his own way but somewhat inappropriate for "small ball."

At the same time, this team is in the lower half of the NBA as far as Defensive Efficiency is concerned. So they had to have an anchor in that regard. Morey brought in Robert Covington, who is a smallish power forward but a very capable shot-blocker and a past NBA All-Defensive team member. He also acquired Luc Mbah a Moute, known as a worker bee on the defensive end (but who hasn't yet played).

Morey stressed that defense was a major emphasis moving forward.

So how are the Rockets doing with all that?

Well, let's put it this way - they have to do better.

In the odds at BetAnySports upon which we will do our NBA preview & picks, the Rockets are the favorites:

Houston Rockets         -4
Portland Trail Blazers +4

Over 245 points -110
Under 245 points -110

Defense was not on display in the team's re-opener. They were tied at 42 with Dallas at the end of the first quarter, with a 139-139 tie at the end of regulation. Houston escaped with a 153-149 win, but they allowed the Mavs to shoot almost 48% from the field, with 21 triples. Even journeyman guard Trey Burke, playing his first game for Dallas, tallied 31. To his credit, Covington blocked four shots and had eleven rebounds, but the Rockets went with just eight men in their rotation.

Last time out it was another eight-man rotation as they beat the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks 120-116. The Bucks are notorious for throwing up a lot of threes and letting their opponents do the same, and in this case Houston outscored them 63-27 in the triples department. We must say that the Rockets got out better to defend the perimeter, but they also yielded 63% shooting inside the arc.

And so here we are, and maybe this team, which is +710 to win the West and +1200 to capture the NBA crown, has resolved itself to simply winning shootouts over its opponents.

Portland may find some success from long-range. The Blazers are 37.4% accurate from beyond the arc, and only two teams have been better than that. But they have also been able to get healthier up front with the return of Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins.

They also put together a monster comeback against Boston last time out, rallying from 24 points back before dropping a 128-124 decision. Nurkic and Damian Lillard both had 30 points, and the Blazers hit 19 of 42 triples.

Portland (30-38 SU, 28-37-3 ATS) is in ninth place in the West right now, and if they stayed there they would probably be able to force a two-game play-in with the Memphis Grizzlies for the eighth and final playoff spot. In that case, they'd have to sweep two games. But if they overtook the Grizz, it would be Memphis having to do the sweep.

There's some intensity here, and enough firepower to cause Houston problems. Since we aren't altogether convinced about the Rockets' "stop" ability, we can recommend going OVER the total of 245 points, as it is posted at BetAnySports, where you have more options with which to bet the NBA than anywhere else........ And while the games are in progress, you can place wagers with the state-of-the-art software from Sports Betting Prime....... Get your account open TODAY, using your debit or credit card, person-to-person transfer or the virtual currency of Bitcoin, which is fast and easy with their automated system, and NEVER incurs a transaction fee!