The Houston Rockets weren’t supposed to beat the LA Lakers without Yao Ming, well they did thanks to Guard Aaron Brooks scoring a career-high 34 points in Game 4 to tie the series 2-2. The action now heads into LA LA Land as the Lakers host the Rockets for Game 5 of the Western Conference Semi-finals. NBA oddsmakers at SBGglobal.com have the Lakers as -12 point home favs over the Rockets with the over/under listed at 198.5 points. Be sure to get your 2009 NBA Playoffs LA Lakers vs Houston Rockets Prediction in now at SBGglobal.com
The Rockets embarrassed LA 99-87 on Sunday, tying the series and picking up their pace a day after finding out that the 7-foot-6 Yao had a stress fracture in his left foot. Guard Aaron Brooks scored a career-high 34 points in Game 4, and the Rockets were still talking about their point guard on Monday. "Maybe it's a bowlegged thing, a knock-kneed, pigeon-toed thing, but boy, they can't keep up with him," said bulky 6-6 forward Chuck Hayes, who started for Yao on Sunday. "He uses his speed to his advantage to get to the paint. For such a little guy, he finishes pretty well." Shane Battier was in control of Kobe outscoring him 23-15. "It's not going to happen too often. So this box score may be framed in my house somewhere," he said. "He's going to come back with a vengeance in Game 5." The Rockets are 2-3 on the road in the playoffs where they’ve averaged 97.2 ppg and given up an average 95.8 ppg.
The Lakers allowed the Rockets to run a 16-29 first quarter lead, they never had the lead and fell back by as many as 29 points before the Lakers at least made it look respectable toward the end. Their top producers in Game 4 were Pau Gasol with 30pts 9 rebounds, while Kobe had a low 15pts and Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom combined for 4pts. "We didn't understand the type of energy Houston was going to come with," Bryant said. "We didn't have that type of energy." Gasol said the Lakers were "outhustled and outplayed and we could have won if we really wanted to." "If we want to be a championship team we have to go after it every single game," Gasol said. "We can't take for granted that because we're better individually or maybe collectively that we can play 70, 80 percent. We have to play 100 percent from the get go." The Lakers are 4-1 at home in the playoffs where they’ve averaged 108.4 ppg and given up an average 100.6 ppg.
Recent Trends to Consider:
- Rockets are 2-6 ATS in the last 8 meetings.
- Rockets are 1-4 ATS in the last 5 meetings in Los Angeles.
- Lakers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 playoff games as a favorite of 11.0 or greater.
- Lakers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a SU loss of more than 10 points.
2009 NBA Playoffs LA Lakers vs Houston Rockets
When: Tue, May 12, 2009 10:30 PM ET
Line: SBGglobal.com
Pick: Rockets +12
Point-Spreads.com 2009 NBA Playoffs LA Lakers vs Houston Rockets
The Bottom Line: The Lakers should win, but by 12 points against the new speedy Rockets. NOT! Be sure to get your 2009 NBA Playoffs LA Lakers vs Houston Rockets Prediction in now at SBGglobal.com and receive a 10% sign-up bonus on your initial deposit
