Article courtesy OddsShark (@OddsShark)
After doing the same thing against the Portland Trail Blazers, the Los Angeles Lakers have bounced back from a Game 1 loss to the Houston Rockets with a 3-0 straight up and against the spread run to take over control of the series. The Lakers will look to close out the series with a win on Saturday night in Orlando.
Los Angeles is a 6.5-point favorite on the NBA odds for Game 5 at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. The Rockets were 6.5-point underdogs when they won Game 1 outright with a score of 112-97.
Rockets vs Lakers | OddsShark Matchup Report
LeBron James came one assist shy of a triple-double with 16 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists in Thursday’s 110-100 win over the Rockets. Anthony Davis led the way on offense with 29 points, but the Lakers actually had pretty balanced scoring throughout the lineup with six players hitting double-digits, including Alex Caruso matching a season-high with 16 points.
And once again, Los Angeles’ team defense was swarming all night and making Houston fight for every point, holding the Rockets to only 100 points to match the postseason-low they had in Game 6 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Lakers are now 7-2 SU and 6-3 ATS through their first nine playoff games per the OddsShark NBA Database.
James Harden had 21 points and 10 assists in Game 4 and had some support from Houston’s other top offensive weapons as Russell Westbrook scored 25 and Eric Gordon scored 19. But the absence of Danuel House Jr. was once again felt.
The Rockets’ sixth man averaged 12.9 points per game in a breakout series against the Thunder, but has been limited to just two games in this series and has now been kicked out of the NBA bubble due to violating bubble safety protocols. The last two games suggest Houston doesn’t have the depth to beat Los Angeles without him.
Saturday night’s total is set at 216 points at online betting sites. The UNDER is 6-1 in Houston’s last seven games.
Los Angeles has completely taken over this series and has looked extremely impressive in doing so. The Rockets have the talent on offense to claw back in this series if they can get hot, but getting hot is going to be difficult with how well the Lakers are defending every possession.
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