559 Lakers +5.5 over Rockets
Since the first meeting between these two teams they both have headed in opposite directions. The Lakers have looked better since adding Tyson Chandler and LeBron taking over more than usual instead of letting the young players develop more at the expense of losses. Kyle Kuzma looks like a better fit as the 2nd scoring option next to LeBron instead of Ingram and Josh Hart is great player as well. The Rockets are 7-13 ATS against teams with offenses that score 106 points/game or more and will have their hands full against the Lakers offense led by LeBron. Lakers are also 4-1 straight up and 2-2 ATS with a point differential of +9 in their last 5 games and the Lakers have the better point differential over the season (Lakers +2, Rockets -1.1). In their matchup on 10/20 it was one of the handful of games the Rockets shot the 3 well at 38% but since then for the season they’ve shot the 3 at 34% at home and they allow teams to shoot 38% from 3 at home so the Lakers will have their opportunities from deep to knock some shots down. The Lakers are playing their best ball this month so far with a +8.3 net rating and the Rockets started to show some improvement last month for 15 games with a +3 net rating but this month they’ve regressed so far with a -4 net rating in their first 5 games. I’ll take the points at 5.5 and I’m expecting the Lakers to win this game outright.