By The
Associated Press

Los Angeles Lakers (52-19, first in the Western Conference during the regular season) vs. Houston Rockets (44-28, fourth in the Western Conference during the regular season)

Lake Buena Vista, Florida; Thursday, 7 p.m. EDT

LINE: EVEN; over/under is 220.5

WESTERN CONFERENCE SECOND ROUND: Los Angeles leads series 2-1

BOTTOM LINE: The Los Angeles Lakers take on the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference second round with a 2-1 lead in the series. The Lakers won the previous meeting 112-102. LeBron James scored 36 points to lead Los Angeles to the victory and James Harden recorded 33 points in the loss for Houston.

The Rockets are 28-19 in Western Conference games. Houston is second in the league averaging 117.8 points and is shooting 45.1% from the field.

The Lakers are 36-10 against Western Conference opponents. Los Angeles has a 25-11 record in games decided by at least 10 points.

TOP PERFORMERS: Harden is shooting 44.4% and averaging 34.3 points. Eric Gordon is averaging 18.4 points and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 41.2% over the last 10 games for Houston.

Anthony Davis leads the Lakers with 9.3 rebounds and averages 26.1 points. James is averaging 26.7 points and 8.1 rebounds while shooting 55.1% over the last 10 games for Los Angeles.

DURING THE PLAYOFFS: Rockets: Averaging 109.6 points, 40.9 rebounds, 21.4 assists, 9.3 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 44.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 105.4 points on 45.4% shooting.

Lakers: Averaging 114 points, 45.9 rebounds, 25.4 assists, 8.6 steals and 6.1 blocks per game while shooting 49.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 107 points on 44.1% shooting.

INJURIES: Rockets: Luc Mbah a Moute: out (knee), Danuel House: out (personal).

Lakers: Dion Waiters: out (groin).

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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