Lakers vs. Rockets Game Preview: Blasting off again

The Los Angeles Lakers are back in action Wednesday night, paying a visit to a few old friends in Mike D’Antoni and Lou Williams as they visit the Houston Rockets. The Lakers have won just one of their last 11 games, have dropped to the bottom of the Western Conference and find themselves once again praying at the alter of the ping pong ball gods.

Most valuable player candidate James Harden should have no problem assisting the Lakers in their quest to land their fourth lottery selection in a row. The triple-double machine has been a monster, averaging career-highs in points (29.1) and assists (11.2). The Rockets are firmly in control of the No. 3 seed, and the Lakers gave them a little extra firepower by way of Lou Williams.

For those wondering about Nick Young’s outstanding debt with Sweet Lou, Swaggy P paid his debts as a Lannister always does during the Lakers’ pit stop:

Head Coach Luke Walton plans on keeping Jordan Clarkson in the starting lineup, but wasn’t ready to say who would start beside him in the backcourt. David Nwaba got the call against the Denver Nuggets, but D’Angelo Russell and Young are both being considered, according to Mark Medina of the LA Daily News.

The experimentation is fine, but it’s a strange avenue of thought when Russell and Clarkson haven’t started in a single game together this season. Considering they’re both key cogs of the Lakers’ “core” it seems like it would be one of the combinations Walton would tinker with, especially with the season looking like a wrap at this point.

The Lakers have a total of five road games left, one of which is against the Clippers, and you can feel the season slowly deflating into the finish line. We’ll see how they do against a Rockets team fueled by Harden and D’Antoni.

Enjoy one of the last road games of the season!

Time: 5 p.m. PT

TV: Spectrum SportsNet