Wednesday NBA: L.A. Lakers (3-1) at Houston Rockets (3-1)
It’s a rematch of the Western Conference Finals on Wednesday night when the Lakers, fresh off an overtime win Tuesday in Oklahoma City, face the revamped Rockets.
Los Angeles is a 2.5-point betting favorite on WagerWeb.com.
Houston hasn’t missed Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady or Ron Artest too much yet with an impressive 3-1 record. That includes wins over 2008-09 playoff teams Portland and Utah. Eight different players scored in double figures for the Rockets’ in their win over the Jazz Monday night. It was the first time since February 26, 1998, that Houston had eight different players score at least 10 points in a game.
Frankly, with no stars on this team, Houston needs balance to win on most nights. One of the few new Rockets, Trevor Ariza, who was signed from L.A. to make up for Artest’s departure is averaging a team-high 21.3 points and 37.5 minutes per game. He’s making 47.5% of his shots, including 52% of his three-pointers.
“Everybody, I think, in the NBA can score,” Ariza said. “It’s just that I didn’t really need to do that in L.A., and I never really had an opportunity to do it anywhere else. Now I’m getting my opportunity.”
Houston might be without key bench player Chase Budinger, who scored 10 of his 17 points in a four-minute Rockets run that took over the game Monday. But he sprained his ankle in the fourth quarter. Budinger has played an average of 16 minutes per game, averaging 9.3 points.
Meanwhile, Artest scored a season-high 20 points against the Thunder Tuesday, while Andrew Bynum posted his third double-double of the season with 22 and 10 boards. Kobe Bryant had 31 points while battling flulike symptoms. The Lakers’ star hit the go-ahead jumper in overtime and a pair of free throws with 18 seconds remaining. Of the Lakers’ starters, only Derek Fisher scored fewer than 10 points and played fewer than 42 minutes. L.A. turned the ball over a whopping 26 times against Oklahoma City.
Last year’s West finals went seven games, but the regular season was no match, with Bryant averaging 28.3 points on 53.0 percent shooting as Los Angeles won all four games versus Houston in 2008-09. But this Laker team is going to be very tired.
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