NBA: Houston Rockets VS Los Angeles Lakers Pick and Predictions 01/16/2023

Game: 10:40 PM ET,  Monday, January 16th, 2023

Venue: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California

TV:  NBA TV

Rockets: 10-32, 15th place Western Conference

Lakers: 19-23, 13th place Western Conference

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Lakers -5.5, O/U 235.5

PointsBet: Point Spread: Lakers -5.5, O/U 235.5

Fanduel: Point Spread: Lakers -5.5, O/U 236

Rockets: SF Jabari Smith JR, PF Kenyon Martin JR, C Alperen Sengun, SG Jalen Green, PG Eric Gordon

Lakers: PF LeBron James, SF Juan Toscano Anderson, C Thomas Bryant, SG Max Christie, PG Dennie Shroder

The NBA will mine the bottom of the Western Conference barrel to find these two roadkill teams and they will slap them on NBA TV for all to see.  The Western Conference is bunched in the middle of the standings and at any moment a couple of teams could rise and a couple could fall based on a win and someone else’s loss… not these two teams.  The Rockets are firmly entrenched in last place and actually want to stay there.  The Los Angeles Lakers do not want to stay at the bottom of the standings but do not have the personnel to do anything about it.  The Houston Rockets have a lot of teenagers and recent teenagers learning how to play in the NBA on the job… They also very sneakily have held onto the good shooter yet defensively deficient guard Eric Gordon.  The result of all this mess is a team that was designed to win the NBA draft Lottery.  That is all they want for every Christmas ever.  If only they had Victor Wembanyama next season… then they would try… you’ll see.  The Los Angeles Lakers have the league’s best player ever in PF LeBron James… and in signing his 2 year extension with the Lakers he has ensured that he will tarnish that legacy and provide more fuel for the Michael Jordan diehards. Even as he breaks the all-time NBA scoring record.  His goal is to play with his son Bronny two seasons from now.  That will happen.  Winning in between may not.

The Houston Rockets are on a 9-game losing streak.  They stink and are not worth their uniforms or basketball supporting city.  If this was a league that had relegation?.. The Rockets would be starting 3-5 completely different starters.  They lost their last game 139-114 to the Sacramento Kings (they have the Clippers tonight before the Lakers).. They got 27 points from forward Jabari Smith Jr and 27 points from SG Jalen Green… with 14, 6, and 7 from C Alperen Sengun.. When all these young guys score well or play well the team gets to feel that their development for future seasons is working.  That’s nice… They still lost and have been losing. A sad thing to see for basketball fans is that 7’4 Center Boban Marjanovic is mired deep on Houston’s bench this season.  His time is coming to an end… hopefully we keep seeing him in commercials the rest of our lives.

The Los Angeles Lakers have actually won 6 of their last 10 games. They also have gone 6-4 ATS during that stretch.  But just as everybody started getting excited it all came crashing back down with a 2-game losing streak.  (They have the 76ers tonight before the Rockets) They lost their last game 119-115 in overtime against the Dallas Mavericks as they got burned by Luka Doncic’s 35 point, 14 rebound, and 13 assist triple double.  In the loss LeBron James had 24, 16, and 9… and the NBA’s funniest sixth man SG/PG Russell Westbrook had 28 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists.  Russell has taken to the sixth man role like a duck to water and will find some suitors for a smaller but still decent contract when he is a free agent in a few months… that is if he is willing to stay a sixth man.  The rest of the roster is made up of odd ends and bits from the NBA scrap heap… They play like it too.  The team is still missing C Anthony Davis and will be for a while.

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The Rockets are 28th in scoring with 109.3 points per game, 4th in rebounds with 46.5 per game, 30th in AST/To ratio with 1.3, and 18th in blocks per game with 4.5.

The Lakers are 9th in scoring with 116.6 points per game, 7th in rebounds with 45.2 per game, 21st in AST/To ratio with 1.7, and 17th in blocks per game with 4.7.

Our prediction for Monday, January 16th is…. Lakers 112 - Rockets 98

Bet on the Lakers at home.  Yes, the Rockets have some good young athletic players but they do not intend on winning.  They want the #1 draft pick more than LeBron wants to play with Bronny.  Plus the Lakers owe their pick to the Pelicans this season… Ha!  If the Lakers somehow win the draft Lottery?.. they will have made one of the worst trades in NBA history when they got Anthony Davis from the Pelicans even though it came with that bubble championship.

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(will update)

Rockets: SF Kenyon Martin JR… Why is he on the floor?.  I’m not saying he is bad or does not belong in the league… but he needs plenty of development before he will actually be ready for NBA starter minutes.  He actually should be starting in the G-League this season.

Lakers: PG Dennis Shroeder.  Capable of big games… Dennis is also capable of becoming invisible.  His enormous career mistake of not signing that contract offer with the Lakers two years ago… will simply never ever be made up for.

Rockets: Stephen “hope he survives the season and draft lottery” Silas

Lakers: Darvin “nothing he can do” Ham