The Lakers will host the Rockets for Game 2 of the NBA Playoffs tonight at 10:30 PM EST. The Lakers won Game 1 107-98. The Lakers will be without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. The Rockets have listed Kevin Durant as Questionable once again.
The Rockets are 4.5-point favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook with the total for this game set at 206.5 points.
Lakers vs. Rockets prediction, preview
The Lakers took Game 1 without pretending they could replace Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. JJ Redick essentially made LeBron James the point guard, and he’s accustomed to this role, as evidenced by his 13 assists with only two turnovers. Redick also leaned into Deandre Ayton on the interior, which clearly paid off; Ayton dominated with 8/10 shooting alongside 11 rebounds and a block. And the huge swing came from none other than Luke Kennard, who put up 27 on 9/13 shooting and a perfect 5/5 from downtown. And everything looked so clean. Los Angeles shot 61 percent from the field and 10/19 from three, scored 24 points off Houston’s 13 turnovers, and led for 93 percent of the game, even though it lost the rebounding battle 44-35 and got crushed 21-3 on the offensive glass. Additionally, their help defense blitzed Sengun’s side of the court, holding the Rockets to a putrid 44.8% at the rim. They need Durant back, badly.
The Rockets actually grabbed plenty of the possession battle in their Game 1 loss: 21 offensive rebounds, 93 FGA to the Lakers’ 66, 44 points in the paint, and 11 fastbreak points. They also got some nice bench contribution from Tari Eason, who had 16 points, 10 rebounds and three steals in just 24 minutes. Unfortunately, Sengun went 6/19 and finished with five fouls, Amen Thompson shot 7/18 and had four fouls, and Reed Sheppard shot 6/20. Understandably, Houston’s coaching staff spent Monday’s practice focusing heavily on offense. Ime Udoka’s own explanation was pretty blunt: too much isolation, not enough off-ball movement, poor spacing, and not enough composure when the Lakers sent help into the post. Udoka specifically mentioned that he did not want Houston abandoning the Sengun post game. But in order for this to work, the Rockets will need to be more patient and keep better spacing behind the action so the double teams can actually be punished.
Lakers vs. Rockets pick, best Bet
Best Bet: Los Angeles Lakers +4.5 (-105)
Houston’s offense was ugly in Game 1, but they’ll make some adjustments to their half court offense tonight, and maybe even get Kevin Durant back to duct-tape all those problems. If Durant can suit up, the Lakers can no longer afford to load up aggressively on Sengun, since a pass to Durant out of the double team spells a lot of trouble for the Lakers’ defense. The Lakers, regardless, will continue putting the ball into LeBron James’ hands and ask him to keep this offense humming. I’m counting on the Lakers to cover this spread; James won’t run out of gas this early into the postseason, and he’s still clearly one of the best playmakers in the game. I’m expecting this Lakers’ offense to outpace the Rockets’ admittedly good defense, but Houston’s discombobulation in the half-court offense, and their offensive inefficiencies in general, is worrisome.
