The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets in back-to-back games last month, which bodes well for their chances against Kevin Durant and Co. in the first round of their upcoming playoff series.
However, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka has issued a strong warning to the Lakers, suggesting that his team has “flipped the switch” since their last encounters.
“For us, obviously, it’s fresh that we lost two games to them recently and then kind of flipped the switch since then,” Udoka told the media on Sunday night.
“Had a really good game against them on Christmas and obviously (we) know they’re injured, but quality players across the board.
Rockets Take Momentum into Playoffs
“…It’s still the NBA, they have some really great players there.
“We’ll have our hands full,” added Udoka.
Further to Udoka’s point, the Rockets did indeed “flip the switch” after their last two losses against the Lakers, going 11-3 in their last 14 games to close out the season.
The last of those wins came against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday night, following which the Rockets learned they would face the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs.
Injured Lakers Ready for Rockets
As for the Lakers, they registered a 131-107 win in their regular-season finale against the Utah Jazz to consolidate the fourth seed. JJ Redick’s team would have moved up to the third seed if the Denver Nuggets had lost to the San Antonio Spurs on the same night. However, Nikola Jokic and Co. prevailed, finishing as the third seed.
With Luka Doncic (grade 2 hamstring strain) and Austin Reaves (grade 2 oblique strain) expected to miss the first round series against the Houston Rockets, LeBron James will shoulder a lot of responsibility to keep the Lakers’ season alive. If the Lakers do escape Houston, they will likely face the mighty Thunder in the second round.
Lakers guard Marcus Smart is excited about going up against Durant in the playoffs.
“Brutal. It’s brutal, man. It’s brutal. I mean, dude is one of the greatest to play this game and he moves like a guard with a big man’s body,” Smart said of KD, via BasketNews.
“It’s hard, it’s definitely tough, man. He’s going to make it hard for us and we have to make it hard for him too,” Smart concluded.
Game 1 of the Lakers vs. Rockets series will tip off on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. local time. The Lakers will have home-court advantage, hosting the first two games of the series.
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