LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will be in tough tonight as they take on the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of their second-round Western Conference series. The Lakers have had quite a bit of time off as they finished their first series in five games while the Rockets went a full 7 games against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Fans have been waiting for this matchup as it could be the closes of the second-round. For the Lakers, there is a lot of pressure to advance and they're going to want to make sure they don't miss their shot at a title.
While speaking to reporters recently, LeBron spoke about his opponents, more specifically, James Harden and Russell Westbrook. James showed both players a ton of respect and explained what makes them so special out on the court. As he said, both Harden and Westbrook are workhorses who are almost always available to the team. Apart from reliability, James also lauded both players for their relentless energy.
Heading into tonight, it will be fun to see how each team responds, with varying degrees of rest. The Lakers will be hungry while the Rockets will be warmed up. Needless to say, this is about to be a great series.