The Houston Rockets play their second game in as many nights, facing off against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on Monday night.
The pregame narrative: This is a rare spot where I feel it’s smart to fade the Rockets. This +390 SGP includes a pick on the Lakers, paired with props on Austin Reaves and Jalen Green.
Check out my Rockets vs. Lakers SGP predictions for March 31.
Rockets vs. Lakers predictions
Parlay: Lakers ML | Reaves 20+ points | Green over 22.5 points (+390)
Lakers ML (-180): Houston is 9-1 over its last 10 games, but I have a few reasons to fade the away side:
- The Rockets played last night in Phoenix, meaning this is the second half of a road back-to-back.
- Los Angeles is at full strength, and the trio of Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Reaves is cooking right now.
- The Lakers have the third-best home record in the NBA (28-9) behind only the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder.
James is listed as a game-time decision for Monday but is reported as likely to play. On Saturday, LeBron, Doncic and Reaves combined for 85 points against the Memphis Grizzlies.
This is a really tough spot for Houston. At the same time, it’s a great opportunity for the Lakers to grab a statement win and inch up the standings.
NBA SGP legs
Reaves 20+ points (-167): Of those 85 combined points on Saturday, it was surprisingly Reaves who led the charge. He paced the Lakers with 31 points on 8-of-16 shooting.
The undrafted guard is working his way into debates of the best third option in the league.
And he’s got a real case. Over the past 10 games, he’s averaged 27.3 points on 53.1% shooting and is 9-1 against this line.
Reaves finished with 18 in the outlier, a basket shy of this mark.
He had one previous meeting with the Rockets this season, scoring 21 points on 13 shot attempts.
Reaves has taken on a bigger offensive role, attempting 14-plus shots in 10 of his last 11 games.
As long as he’s efficient, I really like Reaves’ chances of smashing this modest total.
Green over 22.5 points (-112): Green has been crushing it lately, too.
Take a look at his scoring averages over the past 10 games:
- 25.8 PPG
- 20.0 FGA
- 44.0 FG%
- 23+ points in 8/10
The uptick in production can be chalked up to volume.
Mix in 6.5 free throw attempts per night, and it’s easy to understand why this line is too low for Green at the moment.
He played a below-average 27 minutes yesterday in a blowout win. He still managed to drop 33 points on 9-of-17 from the field.
Since the Rockets have been winning, I don’t see any reason for them to move away from Green as the No. 1 offensive option.
Rockets vs. Lakers predictions made at 1:02 p.m. ET 03/31/2025.
Spencer is a true sports junkie. A graduate of the Sports Journalism program at Centennial College, he first joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2023. He is now a contributing writer. He loves finding the edge to bet on in all sports but has a deep passion for the NBA and UFC. Previous stops include Sportsnet.