The NBA playoffs offer up a pivotal Western Conference game Thursday night, as the Lakers and Rockets meet for Game 4 of their semifinals series down in the Florida bubble. LA lost Game 1 of this series but won Games 2 and 3, thanks to big fourth quarters. Can the Lakers take control of this series with a win Thursday? Or can Houston pull even? And who do we like for our free NBA playoff pick?
Lakers -5/220 vs. Rockets, 7 pm ET, TNT
LA leads this series two games to one, after taking Game 3 Tuesday 112-102. That game was close throughout the first three quarters, with neither team leading by more than six points. And the Lakers trailed the Rockets 85-84 early in the fourth. But Los Angeles then used a 15-2 run to take control, on their way toward the victory and the cover as five-point favorites.
On the night, LA shot a hot 55 percent from the field, while Houston shot 47 percent. The Lakers also out-rebounded the Rockets 43-30.
So far, through the first three games of this series, Los Angeles is shooting 51 percent from the floor, Houston 47 percent. And the Lakers are out-rebounding the Rockets by a 42-35 per-game margin.
Tuesday’s game played under a total of 222. So the unders are 2-1 in this series. Also, unders are a lopsided 13-4-1 in the second round of these NBA playoffs.
With Tuesday’s win/cover, Los Angeles is now 6-2 SU, 5-3 ATS in these playoffs.
With Tuesday’s loss, Houston is now 5-5 SU, 4-6 ATS in these playoffs.
Also, these two teams have now split six meetings, both SU and ATS this season.
- Get more details: Lakers vs Rockets Match-up Stats
