For the third and final time in the 2019-20 regular season, James Harden and the Houston Rockets will face off Thursday with the Los Angeles Lakers, who have clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
On paper, it should be an epic showdown at the NBA’s Disney World “bubble” between a pair of expected NBA title contenders. In reality, it’s not yet clear if the matchup will feature its usual star power.
Fellow All-Star guard Russell Westbrook is questionable for the Rockets with a bruised right quad, while key reserve Eric Gordon is out with a sprained left ankle. The Lakers don’t have any confirmed injuries to their biggest names, but with Thursday being the second game of a back-to-back for Los Angeles, it remains to be seen if Frank Vogel will play the likes of LeBron James and Anthony Davis — and if he does, for how long.
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The Lakers defeated the Rockets on Jan. 18 in Houston, back when the Rockets had a traditional lineup with the likes of Clint Capela and Tyson Chandler playing most of the game at center.
But in the first game after Houston’s trade for Robert Covington and a public commitment to full-time small ball, the undersized Rockets flummoxed the larger Lakers in a Feb. 6 win at Staples Center. With Harden as the primary defensive focal point and the floor spaced thanks to having 3-point shooters at all positions, Westbrook took advantage of open driving lanes to score a game-high 41 points that night.
"If Houston ends up running into the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston, we might have a problem [for LA]."@stephenasmith is liking the bubble Rockets. pic.twitter.com/2vYf8HJX31
— First Take (@FirstTake) August 3, 2020
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Westbrook’s status probably won’t be disclosed until Houston head coach Mike D’Antoni meets with the media about 90 minutes before tip-off. The same could be the case for Vogel’s lineup with the Lakers.
The health of Westbrook presents a delicate balance for D’Antoni and the Rockets, who entered Wednesday tied in the loss column with Utah (42-25) and Oklahoma City (41-25) in the close race for playoff seeding in the West. Yet, with the start of the 2020 NBA playoffs less than two weeks away, they also have every incentive to be careful with any injuries.
Thanks to tiebreakers, Houston (42-25) currently controls its own destiny for a top-five seed in the West. If they finish at No. 4 or No. 5, that would put them on course for a potential meeting with the Lakers (51-15) in the second round of the playoffs. As such, with the Lakers already set in their seed, they might not want to show their cards (i.e. their preferred strategies against the Rockets) in a regular-season game.
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Then again, if the Lakers are concerned about a potential matchup with the Rockets, they might see an incentive to try and defeat the Rockets and Thursday and knock Houston down to a potential No. 6 seed — which would be on the opposite side of the playoff bracket.
Thursday’s tip-off from Central Florida is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. Central time, with a national broadcast on TNT and a regional telecast (with Houston announcers) on AT&T SportsNet Southwest.
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