Houston at Portland

The highest total on the board for Sunday's games as Houston and Portland meet at the Rose Garden. Houston is better defensively than people think, seventh in the NBA in field goal shooting defense allowing 44%. They leaned on that defense to get back in the series the last game, and the UNDER is 9-4 in the Rockets last 13 Conference Quarterfinals games. Portland plays its best defense at home, holding Houston to 42% shooting the last game, losing in OT. The UNDER is 4-0 in the Trail Blazers last four games following a defeat and 16-7-1 when the Blazers fail to cover the spread. With so much at stake in this pivotal Game Four (and no home team winning yet), look for both teams to play tough defense early on. It's been a high scoring series with two OT games, but notice in the first half of every game, each team had its worst single quarter of those games. The value is with a lower scoring first half than the oddsmakers anticipate. Play the Rockets/Blazers Game Four First Half UNDER the Total.