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With the 2020 second-round matchup being their ninth postseason series against each other, the Houston Rockets haven’t had a more frequent opponent in the NBA playoffs than the Los Angeles Lakers.
Historically, the memorable battles have included the likes of Yao Ming versus Kobe Bryant in 2009, and Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson in 1986. The Lakers have won five of the eight completed series, overall.
Yet, the longtime rivals haven’t met in the playoffs since that 2009 clash, which was more than a decade ago.
That changes on Friday.
Courtesy of Houston’s Game 7 victory to close out the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Rockets — the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, based on regular-season standings — advance to the West semifinals to face the No. 1 Lakers. Houston did take two of three meetings in the 2019-20 season, including both after switching to a smaller lineup.
There is no shortage of storylines. Headlined by LeBron James, Anthony Davis, James Harden, and Russell Westbrook, the series features four All-Stars and three career MVPs. Harden and James are among the defining stars of this generation of NBA basketball, yet the future Hall of Famers haven’t met in the playoffs since Harden became a starter in 2012.
On Friday, that battle finally arrives.
There’s also a fascinating philosophical clash. Led by the athletic, tall frontcourt of James, Davis, and JaVale McGee, the Lakers have held the West’s best record for nearly the entire season. So as the season’s trade deadline approached in February, the Rockets effectively decided that it wasn’t worth trying to beat the Lakers at their own game.
Instead, they pivoted the opposite direction and traded traditional big man Clint Capela for versatile forward Robert Covington.
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With that move, which was likely made specifically with the Lakers in mind, they’re looking to change the game entirely. Utilizing a small lineup featuring three guards (Harden, Westbrook, and Eric Gordon) and a frontcourt of Covington and 6-foot-5 P.J. Tucker at “center,” Houston isn’t trying to match up with the size and strength of the Lakers.
Rather, they’re trying to offset those clear advantages for the Lakers with speed and shooting, and by giving those big men “no one to guard.” In the 2019-20 regular season, Houston led the league with an average of 15.9 made 3-pointers, while the Lakers ranked No. 24 at 11.1 per game. On average, that makes for about a 15-point advantage for the Rockets in each game, which the Lakers must overcome in other areas.
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In the 2020 playoffs, the Rockets have averaged more than 19 made 3-pointers, whereas the Lakers are at 12 per game. That leads to a “math advantage” of about 21 points in each game for Houston.
That 3-point shooting, which spaces the floor by forcing big men to defend away from the basket, might also lead to more driving lanes for Westbrook. In his only game against the Lakers after Houston’s switch to a smaller lineup, Westbrook scored a game-high 41 points on 17-of-28 shooting (60.7%). Houston won by double digits.
None of that guarantees success for the Rockets, of course. After all, there’s a reason the Lakers (52-19) were nearly 10 games better than the Rockets (44-28) during the regular season.
The size and power of the Lakers might overwhelm Houston on the glass. Maybe the Rockets struggle to shoot 3-pointers at their usual efficiency, given the opponent’s extra length on closeouts. Perhaps Westbrook could still be limited in the series by his right quad strain.
It could also be that James, arguably the greatest basketball player of all-time, simply makes a few more plays in pressure situations and wills his team to the finish line as he seeks a fourth NBA championship.
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Harden, Westbrook, and the Rockets are clear series underdogs. But rather than trying to beat the Lakers at their own game, they’re attempting to change the paradigm altogether. That should make for a fascinating matchup once the second-round series gets underway.
Game 1 between the Rockets and Lakers is set for 8:00 p.m. Central on Friday, with a national broadcast on ESPN. The Lakers will be the “home” team in Game 1, Game 2, and Game 5 and Game 7 (if necessary) — though with all games played at the Disney World “bubble” in Florida, home-court advantage shouldn’t mean what it usually does.
Games will be played every other day until one team wins four games, with the winner advancing to the Western Conference Finals.
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