Just when you thought the Houston Rockets were set to go on a little mini-run, they go out and lose at home to the road-weary Chicago Bulls. And just when you thought the Atlanta Hawks might be prone to the pointspread catching up with them, they go out and deliver back to back wins and covers last week. These two teams meet at the Toyota Center in Houston Monday night. BetUS Sportsbook has the Rockets favored by a single point.

Houston's 24-19 record is only good enough for eighth place in the highly competitive Western Conference and with the likes of Memphis, Oklahoma City and New Orleans all hot on their heels, the Rockets must keep winning to preserve their current position. All three of those teams are within one game of Houston, who has now failed to cover eight of their last 10 games at the betting window.

The loss to Chicago was not the way they had hoped to kick off a current six-game home stand, particularly considering they were off an outright win in San Antonio the night previous, 116-109 as six-point underdogs. They came out flat vs. the Bulls, trailing by 11 after just one quarter. The Rockets had won eight straight home games before dropping two of their last three, also losing to Miami back on the 15th. They have now failed to cover the number in each of their four previous home games.

Atlanta, meanwhile, currently tied with Orlando for first place in the Southeast Division and third overall in the Eastern Conference, owns the league's best overall pointspread record at 28-14 ATS. They are off a 4-1 home stand that culminated with a 103-89 win over what was a red hot Charlotte Bobcats team, then had the weekend off.

In the past, the Hawks have not fared well in Houston. They have lost 10 straight visits and 16 of 17 overall. Since 1996, they are 2-11 ATS when visiting the Rockets.

However, they did win at home in the season's first meeting, 105-103, back in November. Marvin Williams scored a career-high 29 points in that matchup and Jamal Crawford, the team's leading scorer despite coming off the bench, added 21.

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