When the Rockets last played the Lakers on January 12, it turned out to be James Harden’s final game with Houston. At that time, the visitors from Los Angeles owned the NBA’s best record in the 2020-21 season.
Four months later, things have dramatically changed for both franchises, and not in a good way. Reeling from Harden’s exit and injuries throughout the roster, Houston has clinched the NBA’s worst record. Meanwhile, the defending champions have struggled with injuries to All-Star forwards LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and they may need to go through the West play-in tournament just to qualify for the 2021 playoffs.
Now, on a long-awaited championship banner unveiling night at Staples Center to honor the 2019-20 title team, the 2020-21 Lakers will look to keep their hopes alive of merely avoiding the play-in tournament. Right now, they’re in the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference, which would require winning a play-in game in order to make the playoffs.
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The lines, courtesy of BetMGM
- Point spread: Lakers -13
- Money line: Lakers -900 / Rockets +575
- Over-under: 223.5
- Player scoring props: TBD
Place your legal, online sports bets in VA, CO, IA, IN, NJ, PA, TN and WV at BetMGM.
Houston’s injury report listed 11 of the team’s 17 players under standard contracts: Christian Wood (right ankle), John Wall (right hamstring), Eric Gordon (right groin), Sterling Brown (head/face lacerations), Kevin Porter Jr. (left ankle), Avery Bradley (personal reasons), Dante Exum (left calf), Danuel House Jr. (right ankle), DaQuan Jeffries (right ankle), David Nwaba (right wrist) and D.J. Wilson (health and safety protocols). Of those 11, the only potential options to play on Wednesday are Wood, House, and Jeffries, who are each questionable. The other eight are out.
The Rockets do have two additional players (Cameron Oliver and Khyri Thomas) on hardship exception deals, which assures them of meeting the NBA’s minimum requirement of eight active players.
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The Lakers will not issue an injury report until midday Wednesday, since they also played on Tuesday versus New York. In that game, they were without LeBron James (right ankle), Dennis Schroder (health and safety protocols), and Jared Dudley (right MCL tear). However, media reports have indicated that James will likely play versus Houston.
If LeBron returns to the lineup, as expected, the Lakers (39-30) will likely start James, Davis, Alex Caruso, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Andre Drummond. The lineup for the Rockets (16-53) is much less clear, given widespread injuries, but they started DJ Augustin, Danuel House Jr., Jae’Sean Tate, KJ Martin, and Kelly Olynyk on Monday.
LeBron James is going to give that right ankle one more day of rest today vs. Knicks — and target a return on Wednesday vs. Rockets, sources tell @mcten and me.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 11, 2021
Advice and prediction
The Lakers have more incentive to win, but Houston is three-for-three on its current road trip when it comes to covering large spreads. With so many young players hoping to earn roster spots for the 2021-22 season, the Rockets are still playing hard as their 2020-21 year winds down.
That’s likely not enough to win, straight up, but it could help Houston cover another large number. That’s especially likely to be the case if Los Angeles is playing backups in the fourth quarter, which Frank Vogel might opt to do (if they have a lead) on the second night of a back-to-back.
Prediction: Lakers 118, Rockets 108
Get more betting analysis and predictions at Sportsbook Wire.
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