FanDuel. With Jabari Smith Jr. out for an extended period of time, Ime Udoka announced that Amen Thompson would move into the starting lineup. Thompson has cleared this line in 9/12 games with 30+ minutes this season. In five starts, he’s averaged 35 minutes, and 26.2 PRA. And this is a nice spot against the Lakers who allow the seventh most transition points, Thompson’s preferred scoring method. Always a threat to crash the boards, I like the combined line tonight.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis both will apparently play Sunday but both are banged up. It's also the Lakers' first fairly long trip since Dec 13 as they hadn't had to leave Cali since then. Last season, the Rockets outrebounded the Lakers by an average of 22.0 rpg in their two wins but had a total of one less rebound in the two losses. Houston’s two losses were by a combined 11 points, while the two wins were by an average of 25.0 points.

The Lakers are beat up, with LBJ and AD showing up on the injury report and missing time. Rockets have been bad at home lately, but facing largely elite competition. They can make a statement here and they have the depth and athleticism to be a big problem for the Lakers. HOU 11-7 ATS at home and 9-3 ATS when a favorite in this range. Lakers have a negative net rating in their last 15 games.; HOU is a top 8 team in that span. The Lakers have been covering lately but facing some bad teams. They also haven't left California in about three weeks. Expect the feisty Rockets to be fired up for this one.