Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers will host James Harden and the Houston Rockets on Thursday at 10:30 p.m. ET. Both sides have title aspirations after adding superstars to their team in the offseason, and both squads are mostly healthy heading into what might be a preview for the Western Conference Finals series. The Clippers come into this one with a 21-8 record that puts them in the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference, while Houston is just two games behind them. 

These teams faced off in Los Angeles a month ago, and while the Clippers took the win, Houston narrowly covered the spread. Sportsbooks list Los Angeles as a five-point home favorite, while the over-under for total points is 234 in the latest Rockets vs Clippers odds. Before you make any Clippers vs. Rockets picks or NBA predictions, you'll want to see what SportsLine's advanced computer model has to say.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times, and last season it returned a whopping $4,280 on its top-rated NBA spread and money line picks. It's already returned almost $800 in profit on all its top-rated NBA picks during the 2019-20 season and entered Week 8 on a blistering 16-7 run on all top-rated NBA against the spread picks. Anybody who has followed it has seen huge returns.

Now, the model has set its sights on Clippers vs. Rockets. You can head to SportsLine to see its picks. Now, here are several NBA betting lines and trends for Rockets vs. Clippers:

  • Clippers vs. Rockets spread: Los Angeles -5
  • Clippers vs. Rockets over-under: 234 points
  • Clippers vs. Rockets money line: L.A. -240, Houston +190
  • HOU: The Rockets are 3-1 against the spread as underdogs
  • LAC: The Clippers are 11-4 against the spread at home 

Why the Clippers can cover

The model is well aware of what a massive boost home court advantage has given the Clippers this season. While they are just 7-7 with a +0.9 average point differential on the road, Los Angeles is 14-1 with a +13.4 point differential when playing at the Staples Center. It has been the difference for the Clippers in their two meetings with Houston, who they beat in L.A. but lost to on the Rockets' home court. 

A case could also be made that the difference was actually the presence of Paul George, who wasn't active for L.A.'s loss in Houston. The Clippers are 10-2 in games that both George and Kawhi have suited up, and they have yet to lose at home with those two both playing.

Why the Rockets can cover

The model is also well aware that while L.A. made a huge splash this offseason, one area that wasn't addressed was interior defense. Neither Ivica Zubac or Montrezl Harrell are necessarily bad defenders, but the Clippers did give up the eighth-most points at the rim and ranked just 18th in rebounding rate last season.

The interior is clearly the weakness on this otherwise extremely intimidating defense, and it is a problem against Western Conference contenders like the Rockets, Lakers, and Nuggets, who have big men that Los Angeles doesn't have any answer for. In the first two meetings, Clint Capela has been a problem for the Clippers, averaging 15 points, 20 rebounds, and two blocks. He could again be the x-factor for Houston on Thursday.

How to make Clippers vs. Rockets picks

SportsLine's model is leaning over on the total, and it also says one side of the spread hits in well over 50 percent of simulations.

So who wins Clippers vs. Rockets? And which side of the spread hits in well over 50 percent of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Rockets vs. Clippers spread you need to jump on Thursday, all from the model that has crushed its NBA picks, and find out.