Underrated Matchups That Could Define The Rockets' First Round Matchup

The Houston Rockets are preparing to take on the historic Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the postseason. After a season filled with ups and downs, the Rockets are moving into the playoffs playing some of their best basketball of the season. The ball has moved well between players offensively, and the defense has picked up its intensity as the postseason approaches.

In this matchup, there are some different areas on the floor that could determine how each team plays during the series, and who eventually wins the series.

The underrated matchups to watch fall with the role players, as the stars will be the featured piece of the matchup. Players like Tari Eason, Reed Sheppard, Rui Hachimura, and Jared Vanderbilt could be major pieces to watch outside of the stars.

Sheppard and Hachimura are some of the offensive players who could make an impact outside of players like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Alperen Şengün.

Sheppard is a deep-range threat who helps stretch the floor for the Rockets offense. Hachimura is one of the most efficient mid-range shooters in the NBA, and he also uses his length as a slashing threat towards the basket.

If both players can contribute to their offense, their respective team will have a much better opportunity to perform well on that end.

Vanderbilt and Eason are impact players on the other side of the ball, bringing intensity to the defensive end.

Eason has more offensive skill than his counterpart on the Lakers, but both will be tasked with guarding some of the opposing team's top players. Their performance against the best scorers on both sides will go a long way to determining how effective the stars can be.

Even if Eason and Vanderbilt aren't the direct defenders on the opposing stars, they provide another layer of defense that can keep the other offense from flowing freely.

Eason has the benefit of having Amen Thompson as a lead defender who will likely take on the matchup against James. However, one player alone can't be expected to entirely remove a Hall-of-Fame player from a series, so the performance of defenders around Thompson will be vital to keep the Lakers from getting their offense going.

That's why much of this series could come down to how the role players perform. If they can compete at a high level, they may be able to tip the scales for their respective teams and hellp guide their teams to victory.

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