The Phoenix Suns find themselves out of a playoff spot as they have two games to make it up before the All-Star break. It'll be tough against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night, as Houston sits in fifth with a 33-20 record. The Suns are half a game back of the Golden State Warriors for the last play-in spot. Phoenix looked like a team that could blow up the core at the trade deadline and send Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal packing but decided to stand pat and keep their big three together. Durant ultimately decided against returning to the Golden State Warriors, which led to the Jimmy Butler trade. It'll be intriguing to see if it sends the Suns into a tailspin or galvanizes them into a playoff contender. It's time to continue our NBA odds series with a Suns-Rockets prediction and pick.

Phoenix Suns: +6 (-115)

Moneyline: +190

Houston Rockets: -6 (-105)

Moneyline: -230

Over: 223.5 (-110)

Under: 223.5 (-110)

Time: 8:30 PM ET/5:30 PM PT

TV: Space City Home Network, Arizona's Family 3TV

The trade deadline rumors didn't help the Suns over the past couple of weeks, as they've lost four of their past five games in disappointing fashion. Their one win was against the lowly Utah Jazz. Still, the other losses against the Portland Trail Blazers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Denver Nuggets ended in blowout losses and failed covers. You can look at these two ways to see the Suns' future. Will they put these issues in the rearview mirror and start playing good basketball again, or will they continue to fall in the standings? They'll have a Tuesday night matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies to get things started. However, the issue for the Suns is who will be available on the second night of a back-to-back.

The Rockets didn't go out of their way to make big moves at the trade deadline, acquiring Jaden Springer from the Boston Celtics and Cody Zeller from the Atlanta Hawks. Houston felt they were in a good spot and decided not to make any moves that would alter the team's chemistry or flow. However, their big issue is the injury report, as Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, Tari Eason, and Alperen Sengun were all on it before this game. The Rockets won't be happy with how their past ten games have been going, as they snapped a six-game losing streak with a win over the Toronto Raptors in their last game.

The Rockets' offense has been brutal over their past five games, averaging just 105.6 points per game. However, this could be a spot where they get back on track, as the Suns allowed 127.4 points per game over the same span.

The Rockets have been struggling recently, and their injury report looks like a disaster before this game. It'll be interesting to see who plays for the Suns, but their six-point spread looks intriguing if they have a relatively healthy lineup. Houston doesn't have the depth to keep up with the top half of the Phoenix lineup, and if the Suns don't win outright, they should be able to keep this game close.