The Los Angeles Lakers will try to hang onto the third seed in the NBA’s Western Conference when they welcome the Houston Rockets to Crypto.com Arena on Friday.
A 112-97 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday ensured the Lakers’ place in the opening round of the playoffs, while the Rockets are locked into second place, three games up on LA despite suffering a 134-117 defeat in their last outing versus the Los Angeles Clippers.
Some great defensive pressure on Wednesday enabled the Lakers to get back on track as they had 14 steals and caused the Mavericks to turn the ball over 19 times.
That was the third win for them in their last four games, ensuring they bypassed the play-in round for the first time since that format was introduced.
JJ Redick’s team scored over half of their points (58) in the paint against the Mavs, while four players were in double figures regarding points scored.
While they have the second-most home victories in the Western Conference (30), the Lakers have lost three of their last five contests played at Crypto.com Arena and as a result are just a game above the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers for the #3 seed with two games remaining.
So far this month, the Lakers have done a better job at making their possessions count, scoring 115+ points in four of their previous five outings, which is above their points-per-game average for the season (113.5).
The Lakers have beaten Houston in each of their last seven meetings against them at Crypto.com Arena, winning by a narrow 104-98 margin the previous time around at the end of March.
One of the best defensive units in the league could not answer the sharp-shooting Clippers on Wednesday, as Houston gave up 19 three-pointers over the course of the evening.
A top-five team regarding points allowed per game this season (108.9), the Rockets gave up 134 points on Wednesday the second-most for them in a single match over this campaign, while their three-game winning streak also came to an end.
The top rebounding team in the regular season (48.7 rebounds per game) gave up 11 offensive boards to the Clippers while turning the ball over 13 times.
With a roster full of big men, it is perhaps no surprise to see Ime Udoka’s team continue to struggle with their free throws, making just 70% of them on Wednesday, while they are dead-last in the NBA regarding free throw percentage this season (73.9%).
If they can win their final two games before the playoffs, they will have 54 regular-season victories, the most for this franchise since topping the Western Conference standings in 2017-18 (65 wins).
Only once this decade have they beaten the Lakers on their home court, claiming a 121-11 victory at Crypto.com Arena in February 2020.
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On Wednesday, Maxi Kleber was ruled out for the Lakers through injury, Bronny James played just two minutes due to an illness, while Jaxson Hayes featured for a mere 14 minutes because of a right-hand contusion that had only recently healed.
Two months after coming to LA in a blockbuster deal with the Mavericks, Luka Doncic put up a massive 45 points against his former team Wednesday, matching a season-high in the process, with Rui Hachimura scoring 15 points and Austin Reaves adding another 11.
LeBron James played in his 1,561st career regular season game, moving past Laker great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for second all-time in NBA history, with only Robert Parish (1,611) above him on that list.
Right ankle soreness kept the Rockets’ Fred VanVleet sidelined against the Clippers, while Jabari Smith Jr did not feature due to tightness in his left groin.
The lower back of Alperen Sengun was too painful for him to see the court Wednesday, as the Turkish centre did not play a single minute of that clash.
Reed Sheppard led Houston with 20 points in a losing effort, with Jeff Green adding another 19, while Aaron Holiday had 16 off the bench and Jock Landale was one rebound away from a double-double, scoring 11 points with nine boards.
Los Angeles Lakers possible starting five:
Doncic, Reaves; L. James, Hachimura; Hayes
Houston Rockets possible starting five:
Ja. Green, Sheppard; Je. Green, Whitmore; Landale
We believe the Lakers’ sense of urgency will be greater, seeing as they have yet to clinch third place, while Houston are guaranteed to finish second, which is why we expect LA to push a little harder down the stretch on Friday.
