Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Lakers – 9/10/20 NBA Pick, Odds, and Prediction

The Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers meet Thursday in game four of NBA playoff action at the AdventHealth Arena.  

The Houston Rockets need a bounce back performance to even up this series at 2-2. The Houston Rockets are averaging 109.6 points on 44.3 percent shooting and allowing 105.4 points on 45.4 percent shooting. James Harden is averaging 30.4 points and 7.7 assists while Eric Gordon is averaging 18.4 points and 2.9 rebounds. Russell Westbrook is the third double-digit scorer and Robert Covington is grabbing 5.5 rebounds. The Houston Rockets are shooting 36.7 percent from beyond the arc and 80.4 percent from the free thitem line. The Houston Rockets are allowing 33.3 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 40.9 rebounds per game.

The Los Angeles Lakers look for a third straight victory to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. The Los Angeles Lakers are averaging 114 points on 49.4 percent shooting and allowing 107 points on 44.1 percent shooting. Anthony Davis is averaging 29.3 points and 10.8 rebounds while LeBron James is averaging 27.6 points and nine assists. Rajon Rondo is the third double-digit scorer and Kyle Kuzma is grabbing 4.1 rebounds. The Los Angeles Lakers are shooting 34.4 percent from beyond the arc and 70.5 percent from the free thitem line. The Los Angeles Lakers are allowing 38.5 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 45.9 rebounds per game.

The Lakers are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games as a favorite, 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games playing on 1 days rest and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games overall. The Rockets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 Thursday games, 17-8 ATS in their last 25 games as an underdog and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The under is 5-1 in Rockets last 6 overall. The Lakers are 5-2 ATS in the last 7 meetings in Houston. The under is 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.

We have to give credit to the Lakers for finding ways to win despite the lack of depth on this roster and not knowing who is going to step up outside of LeBron and AD. But that’s exactly why I’ll continue to side with the Rockets and the points in this series. We’re getting free buckets with the deeper, better roster overall, and they’ve had their chances in every game in this series. The Rockets win game 2 if Westbrook could make a shot or dribble a basketball, and game three was decided on a stretch where Rondo couldn’t miss, something that will never happen again. Pretty much a must win game for the Rockets, give me the points.