Los Angeles Lakers vs Houston Rockets Prediction: Will the fatigued Lakers take care of business against vulnerable Rockets?

NBA Regular Season has hit the peak and we are already into the midway stage, which also spells the arrival of trades. The trade deadline is going to close around in three weeks and in about two weeks, things are going to get as busy as it gets. In this NBA Regular Season game, the Los Angeles Lakers are going to take on the Houston Rockets.

Close calls

The Lakers enter the picture after losing 112:113 against the 76ers. Russell Westbrook’s shot was blocked on the buzzer as the 76ers' defense rose up late in the game. This was the second straight loss for the Lakers in the final few possessions. They lost an Overtime affair against the Dallas Mavericks and this was more than at least the fitfh time this season that the Lakers were unable to close out the game. Due to that, they are now at 24 losses and 19 wins, probably looking closely at the trade market.

They need Davis

The Lakers have played much better compared to earlier and even hit a five-game winning streak around New Year. However, they have sorely missed Anthony Davis, especially in the last game when Joel Embiid cooked their current big Thomas Bryant. Westbrook has elevated his game this year(20 or more points in four straight games) while LeBron has done his usual thing. However, apart from that, the roster looks fragile at times with the Guards apart from Westbrook being highly inconsistent.

Losses are their best friend

The Rockets come into this game after a routine loss to the Clippers, conceding 100:121 despite a 24 points performance by Eric Gordon. This was the team’s tenth straight loss and the points difference during the losses has been too huge. The Rockets now have 33 losses and just 10 wins and after hitting a brief winning period where they notched six wins in ten games(Around late November to early December), they have lost 15 of 16 games, which sums up their season.

Painful rebuild

The losses trail began when James Harden left the scene a couple of seasons ago and the rebuild has turned out to be too painful for the fans. The team has struck a strong scoring backcourt in Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr but the frontline of Jabari Smith Jr and Alperen Sengun has a lot of work to do. The team is going to end up in the lottery and they will be searching for a Frontline or Wing to bolster the unit. Anyway, as of now, the Rockets’ fans are just watching their young talent develop.

• Lakers: OUT: Anthony Davis, Lonnie Walker IV, Austin Reaves;
• Rockets: Game-Time Decision: Kevin Porter.

The Lakers played last night against a physical 76ers team in another devastating close loss. The Rockets also played last night so they are also going to be fatigued and with the way they are playing, it hasn’t mattered either way. Although at the time of writing, the Lakers haven’t listed LeBron as QUESTIONABLE or OUT, there is a chance he may be rested here. At any rate, I predict a Lakers win with a scoreline of 120:106.