Who: Los Angeles Lakers (28-29) vs. Houston Rockets (33-24)
When: Thursday, Feb. 21; 7:30 p.m. PST; STAPLES Center
Where: TNT
The Lakers’ road to the NBA playoffs begins on Thursday, when they will host James Harden and the Rockets for the third time this season.
In their three previous matchups, the Rockets have won in comfortable fashion. Their most recent game against the Rockets saw Houston come out on top 138-134 in overtime. However, it’s worth noting that James wasn’t available for that game and Lonzo Ball missed all but two minutes of the second half.
While Ball won’t be available on Thursday, James will be and they’ll need all they can get out of him if they want to upset the Rockets.
Since the last time these two sides met, the Rockets have added a pair of key contributors in Kenneth Faried and Iman Shumpert. Shumpert won’t be available against the Lakers, but as his name is added to the injury report, Clint Capela’s name is removed.
Still, even with additions of Faried and Capela, the Lakers have enough size to bully the Rockets in paint and out on the wing. Expect them to attack the paint early and often.
Of course, the Rockets’ counter to that would be putting as many shooters as they can on the floor and the Lakers have struggled to defend the 3-pointer with Lonzo Ball sidelined. Having Josh Hart back in the lineup will help that, but they’re going to need see better defensive effort from guys like Brandon Ingram and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
If the Lakers can steal a win tonight, they’ll get closer to the eighth seed in the Western Conference, which is currently vacated by the Clippers. Before they get there, they need to leapfrog the Sacramento Kings, who will play the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.
For the Lakers’ sake, let’s hope everything works out in their favor.
