Los Angeles Lakers vs Houston Rockets Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 03/18/26

The Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets will complete a 2-game swing in Houston when they meet again on Wednesday night. They just faced each other at the same venue on Monday, with Los Angeles cruising 100-92. However, there are reasons to think that the outcome will be much different in the rematch. My Lakers vs Rockets pick is for the home team to win and cover. First of all, it’s hard to beat the same team twice in a row in the regular season when motivation is not at a high point. It’s obviously a different story in the playoffs — but right now, whoever loses the first one is surely the more inspired team for the second one. More importantly, Houston center Alperen Sengun sat out the last 2 games with a back issue but will return for Wednesday’s showdown. Getting Sengun’s 20.2 ppg, 8.9 rpg and 6.1 apg back on the court will naturally be a massive boost for the Rockets.

It’s worth noting that the Rockets fell by only 8 points earlier this week even though Sengun was out and they played as poorly as humanly possible. They lost the rebounding battle by 12, committed 22 turnovers (11 more than L.A.) and shot 5-for-26 from 3-point range. Houston isn’t going to get manhandled on the glass like that with Sengun back in action and Kevin Durant won’t have to force the issue by trying to do it all himself on the offensive end of the floor (he was responsible for 7 of his team’s turnovers). Although this is a trend that can’t be fully explained, it is worth noting that the Rockets have alternated wins and losses all the way back to February 26 — a span of 10 games. In other words, Houston is once again due to bounce back and emerge victorious.

Lakers vs Rockets prediction: Houston -2.5 (-105) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.