A Lakers team with no motivation and no LeBron James (groin) equals a confident Rockets pick. Why would Frank Vogel run the often-injured Anthony Davis into the ground in a meaningless game? The Rockets could miss every 3-pointer and still cover this game. Standout play.

The Lakers have no motivation to go all-out and it's showing. Houston, on the other hand, is in a prime bounceback spot after the Rockets got ambushed by Portland following their 2-0 bubble start. Take the points.

The Lakers played Wednesday in what turned out to be a blowout loss to the Thunder. They have already clinched the top seed in the Western Conference, so don’t be surprised if they rest a player or two here. At best, we could be looking at limited minutes for LeBron James and/or Anthony Davis. Meanwhile, the Rockets are coming off of a disappointing loss to the Blazers and could use a win here now that they have fallen into a tie for the sixth seed. Russell Westbrook is questionable with a bruised quad, but all indications are that the injury is minor, so he could play. Given the potential rest situation for the Lakers, I’ll take the points.