Regular Season Game 73 Thread: Houston Rockets @ Los Angeles Lakers

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ROCKETS

Alston / Head / Bogans / Howard / Yao

LAKERS

Parker / Bryant / Odom / Cook / Brown​

The Rockets begin a six-game road trip Sunday in Los Angeles against the Lakers. Tip-off is 2:30 p.m. Both teams will be in action Friday as Houston (31-40) hosts Washington and the Lakers (38-35) travel to Seattle for a game with the SuperSonics.

Sunday will be the third and final meeting between these two teams this year with both winning on each other’s home court. Houston ended a six-game road trip at Staples Center in December with a 76-74 win thanks to a running one-handed shot by Tracy McGrady in the closing moments.

In a February match-up at Toyota Center, it was a different story. Despite Houston entering the game playing some of their best basketball of the season, the Lakers, led by Kobe Bryant’s 32 points, handed the Rockets an 89-78 win at home.

Both teams need a win as Los Angeles is trying to shore up its playoff position – they’re currently seventh in the West – and Houston is trying to keep their quickly-fading playoff hopes alive.

Houston has been one of the best road teams in the NBA this season. At 17-17, the Rockets are one of only six teams to have a .500 or better record on the road and have won three out of their last five away from Toyota Center.

Los Angles has done much of their damage at Staples so far this year, going 21-13 at their home arena to date. However, L.A. is just 10-9 vs. Western Conference teams at home and is 20-22 against teams in its own conference overall this year.

The Rockets will be without Tracy McGrady, who played in both previous games with the Lakers this season, but Houston will have Yao Ming in the lineup Sunday.

Yao missed the first meeting between these two teams and was just over a week removed from returning to the lineup in the second match-up with the Lakers, a game in which he scored 14 points and pulled 13 rebounds. You can probably expect more offense than that from Yao on Sunday as he will have to try and offset the exploits of Bryant, the NBA’s leading scorer.

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