Rockets vs. Lakers Opening Series Odds: Houston Heavily Favored With Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves Injured

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers won three games in a row to end the regular season, holding onto the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference.

So, L.A. will have home court in the No. 5 vs. No. 4 matchup in the first round of the playoffs, where it’ll take on Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets.

Houston closed out the regular season strong, ranking fifth in the NBA in net rating over its last 15 games, going 11-4 during that stretch. Houston has struggled in clutch-time offense (20th in offensive rating) this season, but it finished sixth in the NBA in net rating during the regular season.

Meanwhile, the Lakers are down Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) pushing them down to +25000 to win the NBA Finals. James has turned back the clock in recent games with Doncic and Reaves out, but can he carry a short-handed Lakers team to a first-round series win?

The odds suggest that he can’t.

The Lakers are +550 underdogs against Houston, and the most-likely outcome for this series is for the Rockets to pull off a sweep (+240). L.A. won the season series with the Rockets, but this team simply isn’t close to what it would be if Doncic and Reaves were healthy.

There is a chance they could return to the lineup at some point in the playoffs, but both players were given at least four-week timelines after going down in early April.

The SI Betting team will have predictions for each first-round matchup later in the week, equipped with a series winner and the number of games.

For now, let’s take a dive into several series odds markets to help bettors understand how Vegas feels about these teams, and where there may be betting value ahead of Saturday’s Game 1 matchup.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Rockets vs. Lakers Series Odds

Rockets: -750
Lakers: +550

Rockets vs. Lakers Series Spread

Rockets -2.5 (-115)
Lakers +2.5 (-105)

Rockets vs. Lakers Series Correct Score

Rockets in 4: +240
Rockets in 6: +250
Rockets in 5: +265
Rockets in 7: +800
Lakers in 7: +950
Lakers in 6: +2500
Lakers in 5: +2500
Lakers in 4: +6000

Rockets vs. Lakers Series Total Games

5.5 (Over +105/Under -130)

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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