NBA bettors investing in underdog Rockets against Lakers

Per Oddschecker statistics, more than 60% of bets as of Thursday morning were on the Rockets (+240) to win the series over the Lakers.

Courtesy of Wednesday’s Game 7 win over Oklahoma City, the Houston Rockets are advancing to the second round of the NBA playoffs to face the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed, the Los Angeles Lakers.

Though Houston was pushed to the brink of elimination by the No. 5 Thunder, bettors have remained fairly bullish on their chances.

Despite being heavy series favorites at -300, which carries an implied probability of 75.02% that they will win, the Lakers had accounted for just 38.62% of bets to take the series, as of Thursday morning. The data was compiled by popular betting affiliate Oddschecker.

Instead, it’s the Rockets who have accrued the lion’s share of bets, with 61.28% of all wagers going in favor of them. Though their +240 odds imply just a 29.41% chance of success, bettors appear to see enough upside to gamble on the higher potential payout. (Data analysis site FiveThirtyEight actually gives Houston a 65% chance to win the series.)

“Sports bettors clearly believe that the Rockets’ small-ball system can defeat the Lakers, who ranked in the bottom 10 of the league for 3-point shooting in the regular season, and 13 of 16 playoff teams while in the bubble,” said Pete Watt, spokesman for Oddschecker.

Oddschecker determines its lines by examining the current odds for each team across 10 leading sportsbooks, including BetMGM. They then highlight the most friendly number available to bettors.

The Rockets went 2-0 against the Lakers in the 2019-20 regular season after switching to small ball, with the unorthodox system devised — at least in part — with the larger Lakers specifically in mind. It’s also worth noting that they should have a healthy Russell Westbrook for most of this series, which they did not in the first round against the Thunder.

Led by the All-Star backcourt of Westbrook and James Harden, Houston has a very quick turnaround after Wednesday’s Game 7 to get ready for the second round against LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the star-studded Lakers. Tip-off of Game 1 is set for 8:00 p.m. Central time on Friday, with the game broadcast nationally on ESPN.

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