Rockets still favored
- Oddsmakers still favor the Houston Rockets to beat the Los Angeles Lakers despite losing Game 1. (nytimes.com) - The Athletic noted the Rockets were the only lower seed favored across all eight first-round matchups. (nytimes.com) - Betting markets cited the Lakers' injury context as the primary reason lines favor Houston after the opener. (nytimes.com)
Betting markets still have Houston ahead in the Lakers series, even after Los Angeles won Game 1 on April 18. (nba.com; dknetwork.draftkings.com; sportsbook.fanduel.com) The Lakers beat the Rockets 107-98 in the opener on Saturday, but sportsbooks posted Houston as a 5.5-point favorite for the next game in Los Angeles on April 19. FanDuel listed the Rockets at -215 on the moneyline for Game 2. (nba.com; sportsbook.draftkings.com; sportsbook.fanduel.com) Before the series started, DraftKings had Houston at -600 to win the matchup and the Lakers at +450. That made the No. 5 seed Rockets an unusual favorite over the No. 4 seed Lakers before a playoff game was even played. (dknetwork.draftkings.com; nba.com) The seeding gap was small in the standings. Los Angeles finished 53-29 and took the West’s No. 4 seed, while Houston finished 52-30 and landed at No. 5. (nba.com; nba.com) The bigger gap was health. NBA.com reported before the series that Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves remained out indefinitely for Los Angeles, and the Lakers’ injury page listed Dončić out with a left hamstring strain and Reaves out with a left oblique strain for Game 1. (nba.com; nba.com) NBA.com’s series preview framed the matchup around that absence, saying Houston could “take advantage” of a Los Angeles team missing two stars. The same playoff page asked whether a depleted Lakers roster could hold off the Rockets over a full series. (nba.com; nba.com) That helps explain why one result did not flip the market. Series prices are built around the next several games, not just the last one, and bookmakers were still pricing Houston as the healthier team with the stronger outlook over as many as seven games. (dknetwork.draftkings.com; sportsbook.fanduel.com) The schedule now puts that view under pressure quickly. Game 2 is set for April 21 at Crypto.com Arena, with Houston trying to erase the early deficit and Los Angeles trying to prove Game 1 changed more than the scoreboard. (nba.com; nba.com)
