Lakers at Rockets
James Harden routinely produces high-scoring outings for the Houston Rockets but the star guard might find competition for high-scoring honors in Wednesday's contest against the Los Angeles Lakers. Harden recorded nine 30-point performances this season but Los Angeles reserve guard Lou Williams may be even hotter after averaging 39 points over the past two games.
Williams tallied 38 points in Monday's 107-101 home loss to the Utah Jazz to fall just shy of his second straight 40-point outing. The 30-year-old Williams was asked to pick up the scoring slack with guards D'Angelo Russell (knee) and Nick Young (calf) sidelined and has been up to the task with eight 3-pointers and 22-of-23 free-throw shooting in the past two games. Harden connected on all 18 of his free-throw attempts in Monday's 107-106 home victory over the Boston Celtics to match the franchise record for most made without a miss set by Kevin Martin during the 2010-11 campaign. Harden had 37 points, eight assists and seven rebounds to help the Rockets win their third straight and fifth in the last six games.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Spectrum SportsNet (Los Angeles), ROOT (Houston)
ABOUT THE LAKERS (10-13): Los Angeles dropped three consecutive games as the injuries to Russell and Young helped curtail a solid start. Point guard Jose Calderon (hamstring) will also be out for a couple weeks after being injured on Saturday, and the depleted backcourt prompted Williams to get the shooting green light at all times. Forward Larry Nance Jr. (knee) continues to experience issues and was held out of the past two games but is expected to be available against the Rockets.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (14-7): Harden opened the season with 34 points and a career-best 17 assists against the Lakers, but Houston collapsed in the final quarter and suffered a 120-114 defeat. The performance did set the trend for Harden's soaring assist count as he has recorded double digits in that category on 15 occasions. Shooting guard Eric Gordon tweaked an ankle against Boston but hopes to play against the Lakers and has been hot with a 22-point average and 22 3-point baskets over the past five games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Lakers' season-opening victory ended a five-game losing streak in the series.
2. Houston connected on 12 3-pointers against the Celtics to extend its NBA record to 20 straight games with 10 or more 3-pointers.
3. Los Angeles PF/C Tarik Black (ankle) departed in the third quarter against Utah and is questionable to play against the Rockets.