Rockets are surging, but bettors are slow to show their support

Everyone around the NBA is impressed by what the Houston Rockets are pulling off, climbing into play-in territory as the Golden State Warriors stumble.

But not too many bettors are buying into the Rockets, even with their championship odds still at +100000 (1,000-1) at some sportsbooks, including ESPN BET, and reduced to +50000 at others.

"We haven't seen much interest in the Houston Rockets to win the NBA Championship," said Kevin Hennessy of Fanatics Sportsbook, which has Ime Udoka's team listed at +50000, the same odds as the Chicago Bulls (35-38), Atlanta Hawks (33-39) and Utah Jazz (29-44).

The Bulls and Hawks are the likely ninth and 10th place Eastern Conference finishers. The Jazz have been mathematically eliminated from the postseason.

The Rockets have surged to 37-35, a half-game behind the 10th-place Warriors. Their latest victory was one of the more impressive in the streak, a 132-126 road victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.

"Houston sits at +75000 to win the title," FanDuel spokesman Rachel Spraker said. "In terms of share of bets FanDuel has taken on the market, the Rockets have garnered 1 percent of bets and less than 0.5 percent of handle.

"Nothing to share in terms of large wagers at this time for either conference title or championship," Spraker said.

At BetMGM, spokesman John Ewing said: "We have not seen that much interest in betting on the Rockets." That sportsbook has seen 0.4 percent (fifth fewest) of wagers on the Rockets to win the championship and 1.2 percent (second fewest) on the Rockets to win.

ESPN BET has the Rockets at +100000 to win the title, double what is on the board at Caesars . BetRivers list them at +14000.

Golden State has the tiebreaker over Houston because of a 2-0 lead in the season series with one game left to play between the teams, Thursday, April 4.