The Los Angeles Lakers host the Houston Rockets on Saturday in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series, and if you’re looking to do some last-minute betting research, you’re in luck! We’ll give you the latest point spread, money line odds and over/under number, as well as the information you’ll need to make the smartest bet.
LeBron James and crew will look to shock the world by upending the Rockets without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, who are still recovering from hamstring and oblique injuries, respectively. Virtually everyone is predicting the Rockets to win this series, and some even feel it will not be competitive. Los Angeles is hoping to make those pundits eat their words, and doing so would all start with holding serve on its home court.
L.A. has the home-court advantage in this series because it finished 53-29 in the regular season and claimed the fourth seed in the West, while Houston won 52 games and is the fifth seed. Despite the injuries to Doncic and Reaves, James’ team won its last three regular-season games, but it will now be severely tested in a way it hasn’t been all season.
The lines, courtesy of BetMGM
Lakers vs Rockets injury reports
Rockets: Kevin Durant (right knee contusion) is questionable. Steven Adams (left ankle surgery) and Fred VanVleet (right knee ACL repair) are out.
Lakers: Luka Doncic (left hamstring strain) and Austin Reaves (left oblique muscle strain) are out.
Advice and Prediction:
At this time, it seems very improbable that the Lakers will win this series. But upsets do happen in the NBA playoffs, and while the Rockets are a very good team, they do have their issues and have been vulnerable at times this season.
Houston was first in overall rebounding percentage and offensive rebounding percentage, as well as third in second-chance points, during the regular season. This may be the biggest concern the Lakers will encounter in this series, and it was a big problem for them in last year’s playoff loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Coach JJ Redick made this very clear this week, and James repeated the importance of boxing out hard a little later on.
Redick also identified turnovers as the other big key to this series. Houston does have the tendency to turn the basketball over, even though it was next-to-last in pace during the regular season, and if the Lakers take advantage of this deficiency while speeding up the tempo in their favor, perhaps they can make things happen their way just enough.
There is, however, a very real possibility that in Game 1, they will have trouble scoring in the opening minutes, especially since Houston was sixth in defensive rating during the regular season. L.A. will have to hit from 3-point range, especially early on, otherwise Saturday’s game, not to mention the series, could get out of hand rather quickly.
Prediction: Rockets 110, Lakers 102
Get more betting analysis and predictions at Sportsbook Wire.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Prediction and betting odds for Lakers vs. Rockets Game 1
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
