Thursday, May 17th, 2012
The Houston Rockets will hit the highway to face fellow Western conference foe the LA Lakers in an NBA pro basketball game on Tuesday night.
Start time from Staples Center in Los Angeles is scheduled for 10:35PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by the NBA package.
The point spread opened up in this NBA game with the home club LA Lakers favored by -9 points with an over under of 208 ½ points.
Early money from the NBA wagering public has come on the underdog Houston Rockets as the LA Lakers are now favored by -8 ½ points. The total has moved down to 208 points.
LA Lakers money line supporters will be dealt -450 odds with the road underdog Houston Rockets returning +350 odds to pull out the upset victory without the help of points on their side.
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These two teams are facing off for the third time during the regular season. The teams have split their two meetings.
In their first match up it was the LA Lakers with the 112-110 victory against the Rockets on opening night as a -6 ½ point favorite.
They then met on December 1st in Houston and it was the Rockets with the 109-99 victory against the LA Lakers as a +5 ½ point underdog.
The Houston Rockets enters Staples Center with an overall record of 22-27 on the season. They are just 9-17 straight up on the road.
The club sits in the 11th spot in the Western conference and 5 games in the loss column behind to the Portland Trailblazers for the 8th seed and final playoff spot.
The Rockets sit fourth in the NBA in scoring by averaging 105.1 points per game. The club only hits on 45.4% of their shots ranking 20th.
On the defensive side of the court the team gives up nearly 105 points per game ranking 24th in the league.
This is the third of a four game road trip for the Houston Rockets. The team has dropped both games thus far. On January 27th it was a 111-106 loss at Dallas and on Saturday January 29th it was Houston dropping a 108-95 decision to the San Antonio Spurs.
In the loss to San Antonio the Rockets were able to hit on 46.5% of their shots but only were 5 of 20 from the three point line.
The team was led by Luis Scola who had 23 points on 8 of 17 from the field. Guard Kyle Lowry contributed with 15 points on 6 of 11 from the floor.
Guard Aaron Brooks in 23 minutes shot only 3 of 12 from the field.
Defensively the Rockets gave up 51.4% shooting to the Spurs. Houston was crushed by the Spurs starting five who combined to shoot 30 of 51 from the floor.
Houston will have difficulties matching up with the size of the LA Lakers.
Yao Ming was lost for the season giving the Rockets a difficult time defending Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol tonight.
The Lakers come into this game with a mark of 33-15 this season. LA sits 18-7 straight up on their home court.
LA occupies the second seed in the Western conference and are 8 games behind the San Antonio Spurs in the loss column for the top spot.
They trail Boston by four games in the loss column and the Heat by just one which is relevant should LA square off with one of them in the finals.
The Lakers are seventh in the league in points scored with an average of 103.4 points per game. They hit on 47.1% of their shots ranking fourth.
On the defensive side of the ball the Lakers give up 96.6 points a game ranking 10th in the league. Opponents make 44.2% of their shots against the Lakers defense ranking them 6th overall in the NBA.
This is the fourth game of the Lakers five game home stand. The club has dropped two straight entering Tuesday’s game.
Last Friday night the Lakers dropped a 100-95 decision to a bad Sacramento Kings club as a -12 point favorite.
The Lakers are coming off a 109-96 defeat to the Boston Celtics on Sunday afternoon in front of a national television audience as a -3 point home favorite.
Boston was out for NBA Finals revenge and played like it.
The Lakers hit on 44.4% of their shots for the game. The team made only 74.1% of their free throws.
Kobe Bryant led the way with 41 points on 16 of 29 shooting from the field. Bryant was solid from the stripe with 6 makes out of 7 tries and hit on 3 of 5 from beyond the arc.
The supporting cast could not deliver.
Ron Artest shot 1 of 10 from the field. Derrick Fisher was just 1 of 6. Pau Gasol made only 5 of 13 from the field.
Lamar Odom was a bright spot for the Lakers hitting on 6 of 8 of his shots.
The Lakers defense was poor as Boston added size and strength proved to be a difficult match up.
The Celtics came into the game as the leaders in field goal percentage and torched the Lakers hitting on 60.3% of their shots. Boston also pounded LA on the glass by out rebounding the World Champions by a 13 board margin.
At this point of the season it looks like LA may be rooting for the Miami Heat to up end Boston in the Eastern conference finals because the Lakers don’t seem to match up physically with the Celtics.
Trend: The Over is 3-0 in their past 3 meetings.
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Tags: betting, february 1st 2011, houston rockets, la lakers, nba, Odds, pick, ppv tv, preview, pro basketball, tuesday
