The Houston Rockets will look to bounce back tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers.
In Game 1, Houston was definitely off their game without Kevin Durant. The injury clearly happened late in the week and threw the Rockets off their game. It added immediate pressure to a series in which Houston is favored thanks to LA’s injuries. Now, the momentum is with LA as they’ve seen the formula for beating Houston: defend like hell and let LeBron James do LeBron James things. Can they do that 16 times? No.
But three more is definitely feasible.
Houston has to play better in Game 2. James wrote a great piece on it, and I agree with his salient points. The Rockets have to get better shots in their offense and make them. With two days off to process their mistakes in Game 1, let’s hope that Houston makes adjustments and has counters to some of LA’s schemes. Maybe in this game Houston won’t allow Luke Kennard to do the one thing he can do at an elite level.
Knowing this team, I’m not holding my breath.
Tip-off
9:30pm CT
How To Watch
NBC/Peacock
Injury Report
Rockets
Steven Adams: OUT
Fred VanVleet: OUT
Kevin Durant: questionable
Lakers
Luka Doncic: OUT
Austin Reaves: OUT
The Line (as of this post)
Hou -4.5
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