Los Angeles Lakers: What to expect vs. Rockets without LeBron James

LeBron James will not be active for the Los Angeles Lakers against the Houston Rockets.

After a sloppy loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Lakers will be without LeBron James in the second leg of their back-to-back against the Houston Rockets on Thursday.

LeBron is inactive with a sore right groin, although it very well could be the case of the LeBron wanting to stay fresh and not play a back-to-back with the first seed in the West already clinched.

That is mere speculation, however. Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope were also all listed as probable with several different nagging injuries while Alex Caruso was listed as questionable with neck spasms.

Here is what to expect tonight with no LeBron.

1. Anthony Davis to have another big game

Anthony Davis played really passively against the Toronto Raptors and had one of his worst games this season. He responded by going off against the Utah Jazz, playing really aggressively and going toe-to-toe with Defensive Player of the Year, Rudy Gobert.

The Lakers live and die by Davis and with no LeBron I expect Davis to have a big night. This is going to be the classic case of the Lakers feeding AD in the post, especially against a small Rockets team that lacks in size.

The Rockets love to draw centers away from the rim and create mismatches so I would not be surprised if Davis gets a lot of playing time at the five to eliminate the chance of that mismatch being created.

That is going to be fantastic for Davis on the offensive end of the floor and I would expect him to have a 30/10 night after a nine-point, passive, showing against the Thunder.