With no Yao, bettors have no faith in Rockets’ playoff chances

Yao who?

So far, the Houston Rockets haven’t missed a beat since it was announced that center Yao Ming would sit out the rest of the season because of a stress fracture in his foot.

One of many quality teams in the Western Conference, the Rockets have won twice since their big man was sidelined, running their win streak to 14. Their average of margin of victory has been 12 points, but oddsmakers don’t like Houston’s chances of winning a championship.

According to Vegasinsider.com, the Rockets are now 30-1 to win the NBA title after opening at 15-1.

A perfect 14-0 in February, Houston hopes to continue its roll when it begins its March schedule by playing host to Denver tonight.

Fresh off an expected win over the Clippers on Friday night, the Nuggets are hoping to earn their way into a playoff spot and one of the teams they have a chance of overtaking is Houston.

The two teams have split two games this season, with the home team holding serve. Houston won, 109-81, on Nov. 24, and Denver prevailed, 112-111, nearly one month later.

There are some conflicting trends entering tonight’s game.

According to Covers.com, the Rockets are only 1-5 against the point spread in their last six Sunday games.

The Nuggets are 4-1 versus the number in their last five Sunday games.

However, Denver is only 1-6 against the spread in its last seven with Houston and the Rockets have gone 5-1 versus the number in their last six games against Western Conference opponents.

College basketball

Coach Billy Gillispie’s record through his first 26 games at Kentucky is only 16-10, but the Wildcats are playing their best basketball at the right time.

With the start of the NCAA tournament less than three weeks away, Kentucky has won four in a row and nine of its last 10.

The Wildcats can move into a first-place tie with Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference with a road victory today in Knoxville.

The Wildcats are 10-3 in the SEC compared with 11-2 for the Volunteers, and they already have a head-to-head win. After trailing by 10 points in the second half, Kentucky rallied for a 72-66 win on Jan. 22 in Lexington.

The task for Kentucky, which has covered the point spread in eight of its last 10 games, will be more difficult today because of the absence of talented freshman Patrick Patterson.

Patterson, who was averaging 16.4 points and 7.7 rebounds in the SEC, is out for the season after being diagnosed on Friday with a stress fracture in his left ankle.

bob.mieszerski@latimes.com