Basketball / Andy Morris / 12 May 2009 / Leave a comment Bet Now

Houston have tied their Conference Semifinal up with the Lakers at 2-2 with a 99-87 win in Game Four, but the Lakers can rebound to retake the initiative, writes Andy Morris.

Shane Battier outscored Kobe Bryant in Game Four to lay the foundations for the Rockets' success, and Houston is hoping if he can get it going again then they can repeat that victory.

But Bryant is unlikely to have two such off-nights in a row, and the Lakers will surely be more attentive to where Battier is on the court than they were last time out.

The Rockets played defense well on Bryant in Game Four, getting in his face all game and keeping him from having too many shots inside the arc, reducing his effectiveness.

The Lakers will have worked on that in training since, making sure they can free their go-to man to get some shots more in his range.

The fact that Game Five is at the Staples Center is obviously to Los Angeles' favour, but so is the fact that they have now had this wake-up call. They responded to the opening 100-92 loss by coming out with two straight wins to go 2-1 up in the series, and it's likely that they can respond again this time.

Yao Ming's absence is bound to have some effect on Houston, and one wonders whether Aaron Brooks can have a night like he had last time, where he scored 34 points.

Battier was the hero from beyond the arc, nailing three after three, and while the Lakers will perhaps be happy to give him the opportunity to shoot from distance if they have to, the question is whether he can pull out another shooting performance like he had in Game Four.

I'm banking on the Lakers having a much better night this time, keeping Brooks quiet and having greater production from the likes of Kobe. So I'm taking the Lakers in match odds betting.

In the other Game Five of the night, Boston will hope for more of the same after Glen Davis' jumper as the clock ran out in the fourth quarter helped them to edge the Magic 95-94 in Game Four and tying the series at 2-2.

Davis' matchup with Rashard Lewis has been one of the features of this series, and should be crucial to the outcome again.

The key thing for the Magic is to get more out of Hedo Turkoglu, who is averaging just over 13 points per game in the second round if you take aside his Game 3 effort. Considering he is playing for a contract at the moment, you would expect him to step things up.

Davis averaged 10.6 points in the previous games before delivering 21 in Game Four, meanwhile Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 27 on 9-for-15 shooting; Boston is now 4-0 in the playoffs when he shoots better than 40 per cent from the field.

Boston center Kendrick Perkins strained his shoulder late in Sunday's contest but should be fit to play.

The Magic guards as a whole shot just 14-for-51 for the game on Sunday, and that needs to be addressed in Game Five.

Orlando has covered just four of the past 17 trips to Beantown, with one of those coming in Game One's victory.

You've got to like the Celtics' chances in this one, and I'm taking them in match odds betting.