Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Lakers game preview

The Rockets head to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers twice in the next three days. After tonight’s game, the teams meet once again at Staples Center on Tuesday.

For the Lakers, LeBron James is back after right ankle soreness. Against the Cavaliers, he shot 10-22 overall, but 1-10 from deep. The rest of the Lakers shot well collectively and the Lakers won 113-101.

The Lakers feature former Rockets Russell Westbrook, Avery Bradley, Carmelo Anthony, Trevor Ariza, and Dwight Howard. That would have been a pretty good lineup 10 years ago, but these days it’s not particularly terrifying. LA was favored to be a top team in the West, but have been disappointing early in the season. They’re 3-3 overall and 2-2 when LeBron plays. They’re the only team to lose to the Oklahoma City Thunder, which is the worst loss of the season for anyone.

The Lakers will likely out-talent the Rockets over the next two games, but it would be nice to see the Rockets push LA in these games. The Lakers are building towards the playoffs and the Rockets are building towards next season.

Tip-off is 9:30pm CT on AT&T SportsNet Southwest