The Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets are playing at the Toyota Center on Wednesday night in a game that was supposed to be on ESPN, but with Kobe Bryant injured and the Lakers struggling, the game got bumped for the Wolves and Suns and now the two teams will tip off at 8 pm and has Dwight Howard facing his old team from LA.
The Lakers have been dealing with a significant amount of injuries this season and that doesn't even include Kobe Bryant, as Steve Nash, Steve Blake, Jordan Farmar and Pau Gasol have been banged up and they are coming into the game after a loss against the Dallas Mavericks on the road and they continue their Texas road trip against the Rockets. The Lakers come in seven games under .500 and the Rockets are 22-13 on the season and after this game, the Lakers will play against the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night at the Staples Center, but they will be the road team in that matchup.
Nick Young is currently leading the team in scoring and Kendall Marshall has been playing well for the team and he was good with 20 points and 15-assists in his first start and his play will be key for the team going forward. Gasol has been mentioned once again in trade talks, but once again he remains with the Lakers and it looks like he will be staying for the long haul this season as the team tries to set itself up for the future. Bryant is looking to come back strong from his latest injury and while the team is scoring under 100 points per game, playing against a weak defensive team like the Rockets may be just what they need to wake up.
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The Lakers come into the game ranked 28th in the league in assists and that could mean some trouble on Wednesday night, as the Rockets have been one of the best and highest scoring teams in the NBA this season. The Rockets are scoring over 105 points per game this season and they are ranked sixth in the NBA in rebounding and now Howard has the chance to play against his old team and he has been solid this season, averaging 12 rebounds per game, while James Harden has benefitted from Howard, scoring 24.4 points per game.
The team is coming off of a close win against the Knicks that saw the team get 37 points from Harden and 11 rebounds from Chandler Parsons and now the team has a road matchup next against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday and that comes after the matchup against the Lakers on Wednesday.