Rockets vs. Lakers Opening Odds, Preview for NBA Playoffs Game 1

The Los Angeles Lakers host the Houston Rockets to open their NBA Playoffs series on Saturday night.

Not much separated the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers in the regular season. The Lakers have home-court advantage in this series as the No. 4 seed, but they had just one more win than the Rockets this season.

Both teams have been playing some great basketball recently, but the injury to Luka Doncic has put a damper on the Lakers’ title hopes, and quite possibly their chances in this series.

Let’s get right into the opening odds for Rockets vs. Lakers in NBA Playoffs Game 1 on Saturday, April 18.

Rockets vs. Lakers Odds, Spread and Total

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Spread

Rockets -5.5 (-110)
Lakers +5.5 (-110)

Moneyline

Rockets -225
Lakers +185

Total

207.5 (Over -110/Under -110)

The Rockets won 9 of their final 10 games and went 11-3 since March 20 after losing back-to-back games to the Lakers. However, injuries loom large in this series, which makes the Rockets road favorites in Game 1.

Houston’s moneyline odds of -225 imply a 69.23% chance of taking care of business in Game 1.

Rockets Rare Road Favorites in Game 1

The Rockets weren’t a great team on the road this season. While they went an impressive 30-11 at home, their road record was 22-19. The Lakers had more even splits, going 28-13 at home and 25-16 on the road.

Everything changed for the Lakers this season when Doncic went down with an injury on April 2 in Oklahoma City. Los Angeles rallied to win its final three games of the year, but it could be a different story in the postseason.

The Rockets did win the first meeting in Los Angeles back on Christmas Day, with the Lakers taking the last two in Houston in March.

The Lakers have won just two playoff games in the last two seasons, getting eliminated in the first round by the Timberwolves and Nuggets. The Rockets are still looking for their first playoff series win since 2020, though, when they got past the Thunder before losing to the Lakers in five games.

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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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