The Houston Rockets and LA Lakers are playing live on the NBA season opener schedule on Tuesday night and the matchup from the Staples Center marks the return of Kobe Bryant and the game is the second of a doubleheader on TNT and starts up past 10:30 pm ET and has Dwight Howard coming back to Los Angeles and he will get the boo treatment once again.
The Lakers are coming into the season after a very tough year and now they have the chance to bounce back and it comes as they have a new head coach in Byron Scott. The team is getting Kobe Bryant back and they have made a number of changes, bringing in Carlos Boozer and Jeremy Lin, although Steve Nash will be out for the season after dealing with back issues.
The Lakers have Nick Young back after he led the team in scoring and they allowed Pau Gasol to leave and sign with the Bulls and they are hoping that Boozer can help make up for that. The team won just 27 games last season and was one of the worst defensive teams in the league. The Lakers need to do better on both ends and the health of Bryant will be a major factor in how things go this season. The team lost 55 games last year and drafted Julius Randle and they come in after going 6-10 against their division.
The team opens against the Rockets and they have the Phoenix Suns next on the schedule after this game with Dwight Howard, who is returning to the place where he was traded and then left. The Rockets had a disappointing season in the sense that they felt they could make a run in the postseason, but they ended up getting upset in the first round by the Blazers. The team now has lost Omer Asik and Chandler Parsons and now even more pressure will be on Howard and Harden.
Last season the team was one of the top offensive teams in the league and they now need to make up that lost scoring. Harden led the team with 25 points and six assists per game, while Howard was best with 12 rebounds and he will be looking to do even more going forward. The Rockets next play against the Utah Jazz and that will be an easy matchup and they are looking to get off to a fast start this season no matter how this game goes. The Lakers and Rockets should have some good games this season and this kicks it off.
Check here for the Houston Rockets and LA Lakers live coverage.
