The defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers begin the NBA betting online season at home on Tuesday night against the Houston Rockets. The Lakers were a little banged up in the preseason but they should be fine for Tuesday’s game. Los Angeles is a solid home favorite in NBA betting against the Rockets in this game that can be seen on TNT.
Lakers -7.5 at SBG
The Lakers are laying 7.5 points in the opener with the total at 196. The Lakers will have Kobe Bryant on Tuesday but he may not play the minutes he normally does. The Lakers are really going to be counting heavily on Pau Gasol to carry the load with Bryant seeing reduced minutes early in the season. Head coach Phil Jackson is looking at Kobe playing about 30 minutes on Tuesday. Kobe averaged just 21.6 minutes played during the preseason. Lamar Odom and Theo Ratliff have been injured but both are expected to play while Luke Walton is still out with a hamstring injury. The Lakers will also be without Andrew Bynum for at least a month and probably longer.
Yao Ming
The Rockets will be limiting Yao’s minutes this season and he will not even play on back-to-back nights. The good news for Houston is that he will play in this game against the Lakers. He won’t play on Wednesday in Golden State. Houston head coach Rick Adelman said that Yao will start and play about six minutes and then his remaining playing time will be determined based on the matchups but it has already been said that Yao won’t play more than 20 minutes per game. The Rockets will be shorthanded on Tuesday as they will not have Kyle Lowry who is out with back spasms.
Tuesday NBA Betting Online Trends – The Rockets are 6-14 ATS in their last 20 games as a road underdog. The Rockets are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 vs. the Pacific. The Lakers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 Tuesday games. The Over is 6-1 in the Rockets last 7 games as a road underdog. The Rockets are 1-4 ATS in the last 5 meetings in Los Angeles. Looking at the total, the Over is 5-2 in the Rockets last 7 vs. the Western Conference. The Under is 3-1-1 in NBA betting in the Lakers last 5 home games. The Under is 4-0 in the last 4 meetings in Los Angeles between the two teams.