Led by future Hall of Famers LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Los Angeles Lakers showed why they’re the defending NBA champions during Sunday’s 120-102 blowout in Houston. On Tuesday, thanks to the NBA’s revised scheduling policy to minimize travel, James Harden and the Rockets will get an immediate chance to make amends.
What remains to be seen is what Harden’s supporting cast will look like. Starting small forward Danuel House Jr. will miss another game, though the explanation has now shifted from back spasms to the league’s new health and safety protocols for the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, starting point guard John Wall (migraine) and sixth man Eric Gordon (left lower leg tightness) are each listed as questionable.
In postgame comments, the Rockets (3-5) cited leaky transition defense, subpar shooting, and excessive turnovers as reasons for Sunday’s poor showing, and those are the themes that head coach Stephen Silas was working to correct at Monday’s practice. Tuesday will put that to the test against the Lakers (8-3), who are title favorites again.
Dating back to their best-of-seven series in the 2020 playoffs, which the Lakers won 4-1 in the second round after losing Game 1, the Rockets have now lost to the Lakers in five consecutive games. Could they be due for a breakthrough? We’ll find out soon.
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James and Davis are each listed as questionable for the Lakers with a left ankle sprain and right adductor strain, respectively. But since they each played Sunday after the identical pregame designation for the same injury, it seems more likely than not that they will again play.
Here’s when you should tune in to see Tuesday’s rematch:
- Date: Tuesday, Jan. 12
- Time: 7 p.m. Central
- TV Channel: NBA TV
- Live stream: fuboTV (watch for free)
Probable starting lineups
Houston Rockets
- Guard: James Harden
- Guard: John Wall (questionable)
- Forward: David Nwaba
- Forward: PJ Tucker
- Center: Christian Wood
Los Angeles Lakers
- Guard: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (probable)
- Guard: Dennis Schröder
- Forward: LeBron James (questionable)
- Forward: Anthony Davis (questionable)
- Center: Marc Gasol
In Harden’s last four games after returning from a sprained right ankle, he’s averaging 17.8 points on 39.7% shooting (27.3% on 3-pointers). That’s approximately half of the 35.3 points per game figure that Harden averaged over the previous two seasons, and on reduced efficiency.
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“The Beard” is still leading the Rockets with 11 assists per game over that stretch, but Houston probably needs Harden to recapture his dominance as a scorer to have a shot versus the defending NBA champions. That could especially be the case if Wall and/or Gordon, who rank No. 3 and No. 4 on the team in scoring this season, are missing.
Final clarification on available players should come when Silas conducts his pregame media session from Toyota Center at 5:15 p.m. Central.
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