Tuesday Night in the NBA we will see the Los Angeles Lakers travel to the Lone Star State to take on the Houston Rockets. The game is scheduled for an 8 p.m. start time and it will be televised Locally. Currently the odds have the Lakers favored by 3 points with the total sitting at 192 points for the game.
Free Analysis: The Rockets bring a 24-22 record (23-22-1 ATS) to the battle against the 28-17 Lakers, who are 20-25 ATS. OVER/UNDER bettors have seen Houston go 20-26 so far and the Lakers go 23-22. The Los Angeles Lakers will not see former starting point guard Derek Fisher on Tuesday. Fisher, who was traded to the Houston Rockets at last week’s deadline, never showed up to join the team and reached a buyout agreement over the weekend. Los Angeles acquired Ramon Sessions from Cleveland on Thursday for Luke Walton and Jason Kapono, and then sent Derek Fisher to Houston for backup big man Jordan Hill. Adding the speedy Sessions, who averaged 10.5 points and 5.2 assists with the Cavaliers, seems to be an improvement over the 37-year-old Fisher, who averaged 5.9 points and 3.3 assists. The Lakers are coming off a 103-99 loss to Utah on Sunday that snapped a five-game winning streak. Andrew Bynum had 33 points and went 12 of 14 from the field while Pau Gasol scored 18, but Bryant suffered mightily to find his rhythm. He had 15 points and missed 17 of his 20 shots - his worst shooting performance since going 2 of 16 in a loss to Memphis on Dec. 20, 2004. Bryant, the league's leading scorer at 28.7 per game, had no trouble shooting in the Lakers' lone matchup with the Rockets, a 108-99 win Jan. 3. He scored 37 points and went 14 of 29, while Bynum had 21 points and 22 rebounds. Los Angeles is 10-2 in its last 12 against Houston, and Bryant has averaged 30.8 points in the last four meetings. The Rockets are coming off a 99-86 loss to Phoenix on Sunday, which allowed the Suns to move within one-half game of Houston for the final Western Conference playoff spot. Luis Scola had 18 points, Dragic scored 16 and Marcus Camby, acquired Thursday from Portland, had eight points and eight rebounds in his Rockets debut. With Fisher not joining the team the Rockets are now forced to lean heavily on Goran Dragic at the point until Kyle Lowry returns from a bacterial infection. Lowry, averaging 15.9 points and 7.2 assists, is expected to be sidelined for at least another week. Dragic is averaging 16.0 points and 9.2 assists in six starts since Lowry became ill. The game pits Houston's No. 9-ranked offense, averaging 97.7 PPG, against a Lakers defense that ranks No. 7 at 92.9 PPG. The Rockets field goal percentage has averaged 45.3% so far, which is the same as the Lakers shooters have achieved on the year, 45.3% per game. On the other side we have the Lakers at 17th in scoring (95.2 ppg), while Houston is 20th in points allowed (97.7 ppg).
Free Pick: Earning a win and covering the 2-point spread will be the goals for the Lakers when they hit take on the Rockets on Tuesday in pro hoops betting action. But the total might be the best bet, based on recent history. The past 5 meetings between these Western rivals all played OVER the total, with at least 207 points being scored in each game. Earlier this year the teams hooked up in LA and did put 207 points on the board. Houston has been a good scoring team at home as they have averaged 99.6 ppg on their home floor, while the Lakers allow 97.3 ppg an the road. LA's defense has been suffering of late as they have allowed 98.1 ppg in their last 7 games (Regulation), compared to their 92.9 ppg they have allowed for the year overall. Houston has been solid on defense at home, but they have allowed 95 points or more in 7 of their last 8 non-OT games. The Lakers average 98.4 ppg in their last 7 games (regulation) overall, while in their last 5 games vs Houston they have hit at least 98 points in each of them. Both teams should be able to hit the 96 point mark as this game should flirt with 200.
Free Picks: Lakers at Rockets Betting
http://PregameVideos.com - Rockets plagued guard injuries and Lakers mad after rare home loss plus other factors NBA bettors need to know about Lakers at Rockets (Tuesday, March 20, 2012) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from Stephen Nover and analysis from host Marco D'Angelo.