NBA Playoff Odds: Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Lakers Game 2

Written by Jimmy Boyd on May 5, 2009

rockets-lakers-game-2-5509 The Lakers and the Rockets face off in Game 2 on Wednesday, May 6th at 10:30 pm EST on TNT. The Rockets sent a message to the Lakers in Game 1 with a 100-92 victory in Los Angeles on Monday night, crushing the point spread which had them slated as an 8-point underdog. NBA odds makers are showing little doubt that Los Angeles will bounce in Game 2, installing the Lakers as 10-point favorites with the total set at 193.

Most experts expected the Lakers to handle Yao Ming better than the Blazers were able to, but that wasn’t the case at all. Yao Ming outshined both Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol with a 28-point, 10-rebound performance to lead the Rockets to a big win in Game 1. It was Houston’s first win against the Lakers this season. Rockets forward Ron Artest should be praised as well for his 21-point, 7-assist performance, which also included a superb defensive effort. The gamble to bring in the troubled Artest has already paid off as he has brought this team a toughness it has been lacking for quite some time. The big question going into Game 2 is if the Rockets will be satisfied with stealing one game in LA or if they will go hard after another in hopes of really putting the defending Western Conference champs in a predicament. The Rockets know LA is going to come out strong in Game 2, and it will be up to them to stick to their game plan. The Rockets were successful in Game 1 because they didn’t get into a track meet with LA and they played through Yao even better than they did in their first round series. If you think Houston has what it takes to put LA in an 0-2 hole, or at least take the Lakers down to the wire, bet the Rockets at +10 at Sportsbook.com.

The Lakers should have been fresh and well prepared after finishing off the Jazz with relative ease, but instead, they came out sluggish in front of their faithful and were hit in the mouth because of it. Kobe Bryant showed up and kept the Lakers in the game, but nobody else did. Lamar Odom, who was huge in the Lakers first round series, scored only 9 points, and the twin towers of Bynum and Gasol went for just 10 and 14 respectively, which was 4 less than Yao Ming scored on his own. The Lakers are a better team than they were a season ago, and they are determined to get back to the NBA Finals, but they didn’t play with a sense of urgency Monday night. The Lakers need to come out and force the issue in Game 2 by pushing the tempo. The Rockets do not want to play uptempo basketball as they do not have the speed and the athletes to keep up with LA. Speeding up the game particularly makes things difficult for Yao Ming, who cannot run with the faster and more agile LA bigs. If you think Los Angeles will have its revenge in convincing fashion in Game 2, bet the Lakers at -10 at Sportsbook.com.

Do your NBA betting on Jimmy Boyd’s NBA picks Wednesday night for continued postseason success.

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