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Rockets, Lakers open season Tuesday in L.A.
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 10/28/2014  at  4:43:00 AM
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HOUSTON ROCKETS (0-0)

at LOS ANGELES LAKERS (0-0)

Tip-off: Tuesday, 10:35 p.m. ET
Line: Houston -6, Total: 207.5

The Rockets have high hopes for the 2014-15 season, which begins on Tuesday night when they visit the Lakers.

The season begins with a game that has multiple storylines, including the return of Kobe Bryant from injury, plus and both Dwight Howard and Jeremy Lin facing their former teams. Houston has championship aspirations this season, while Los Angeles would be extremely lucky to even grab the eighth seed in a loaded Western Conference. In recent years, the Rockets have really had the Lakers’ number, going 5-2 (SU and ATS), which includes three blowouts in the 2014 calendar year by 14, 26 and 15 points. These matchups don't feature much defense, as 12 of the past 15 meetings have gone Over the Total as well. The Rockets have a 22-to-1 price to win the NBA title, while the Lakers are clearly a longshot at 75-to-1. Where Houston may truly hold value in a futures pick is winning the Western Conference. Both these clubs were below average in their respective venues, as Houston was 21-23 ATS on the road last season while L.A. was 18-21 ATS at Staples Center. While the Rockets are virtually free of injuries (Howard is probable with an arm injury), the Lakers will be missing PG Steve Nash (back) for the entire season, SG Nick Young (thumb) for the first month of the season, and both SG Wayne Ellington (concussion) and PF Ryan Kelly (hamstring) are doubtful for the season opener.

Can the Rockets open their season with a sizable road victory? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the Expert picks throughout the entire 2014-15 season. StatFox Zach posted a 54% ATS mark (65-56-4) in NBA Best Bets last season, while StatFox Forecaster had a 53.4% ATS (207-181-12) in featured games last season.

The Rockets went after all of the big name free agents this offseason, but struck out swinging. They also lost Chandler Parsons, one of their top players on both ends of the court. Houston replaced him with SF Trevor Ariza, one of the NBA’s premier 3-and-D guys. He averaged 14.4 PPG and 6.2 RPG in 35.4 MPG with the Wizards last season. Houston, however, will only go as far as SG James Harden and C Dwight Howard takes the club. Harden was one of the best offensive players in basketball last season, averaging 25.4 PPG, 6.1 APG and 4.7 RPG. He is the team’s primary ball handler and has the freedom to do whatever he pleases in Kevin McHale’s offense. He’ll go right after Kobe Bryant in the opener and try to make him uncomfortable in his first regular season game in a very long time. Howard is coming off a season in which he averaged 18.3 PPG, 12.2 RPG and 1.8 BPG. He looked a lot healthier than he did the season before with the Lakers and he should now be fully healthy as he’s more than a year removed from serious back surgery. Howard should be able to dominate his former team, as L.A. does not have anybody with the size to check him for 35+ minutes. The development of guys like PG Patrick Beverley, PF Terrence Jones and C Donatas Motiejunas is crucial for this team. They want to win a championship now, but will need major contributions from their young guys. Jones specifically could really help Houston in this contest. He’s an active rebounder and has a unique combination of size and speed that should be difficult for newest Lakers PF Carlos Boozer to contain.

Los Angeles unfortunately will be without PG Steve Nash for the entire season due to yet another nerve issue with his troublesome back. They Lakers will, however, have SG Kobe Bryant back from a fractured left knee he suffered last season. Bryant has looked sharp as of late, scoring at least 26 points in each of the final three preseason games that he participated in. PG Jeremy Lin will now be the Lakers’ starting point guard after he averaged 12.5 PPG, 4.1 APG and 1.0 SPG as a key reserve for the Rockets last season. He’ll have some extra fire playing against the team that gave up on him. Unfortunately for Lin, he’ll be up against the defensive-minded Patrick Beverley. As far as the frontcourt goes, newly acquired PF Carlos Boozer will be heavily relied on to score in the paint. He was amnestied by the Bulls after averaging 13.7 PPG and 8.3 RPG last season. He’s still got a lot left in the tank, but he is a miserable defender, and could have a lot of trouble staying in front of Terrence Jones. Rookie PF Julius Randle will be Boozer’s primary backup. The 7th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft has tons of potential on the offensive end. He’s a handful in the paint, but he doesn’t show a consistent effort defensively. C Jordan Hill, who averaged 9.7 PPG and 7.4 RPG, will start at center for Los Angeles. He will have a lot of difficulty guarding Dwight Howard in this one.


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