Houston @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 10, 2018 ) Houston 105, L.A. Lakers 99

LeBron James is about to make his Los Angeles Lakers home debut while staring across at a few good friends. The Lakers will expect a raucous crowd when they go for their first win in the James era while hosting Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony and the Houston Rockets on Saturday.

James collected 26 points, 12 rebounds and six assists on Thursday at Portland but also committed six turnovers while getting used to his new teammates as Los Angeles fell 128-119. "I had one in the fourth quarter, I expected (Kyle Kuzma) to pop, he rolled, I threw it out of bounds," James told reporters. "We talked about those are things we get better at. We ran a play late in the game as well where I turned the ball over, it was a set, we will get better with those things." The Rockets are coming off a loss as well after getting blitzed by the New Orleans Pelicans 131-112 and are searching for the right role for Anthony, who came off the bench in his team debut. "It's challenging mentally more so than anything, having to prepare for the game differently," Anthony told reporters of the reserve role. "Other than that, it's a challenge all the way around. It's just a matter of how I'm going to react to that challenge and accepting that challenge, which I am, which I will do."

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, AT&T Sportsnet Southwest (Houston), Spectrum Sportsnet (Los Angeles)

ABOUT THE ROCKETS (0-1): Houston, which posted the best record in the NBA last season at 65-17, allowed the Pelicans to shoot 53.1 percent from the floor in the loss. "It happens when you get tired," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni told reporters. "It happens when you panic a little and they want to overdo it. When I say we don't have energy, it's not that we don't want to have it. It's just that first game, our legs got dead. You know, tiredness makes cowards out of everybody, and we were tired. It just was tough. We'll fight through it, we'll get our sea legs and we'll get going." Anthony managed nine points on 3-of-10 shooting in 27 minutes off the bench while committing four personal fouls.

ABOUT THE LAKERS (0-1): Part of the challenge for James this season is taking a new cast of teammates, including a handful of younger players, and molding them into a title contender. "You can control what you can control, and what I control is how I lead these guys and how I prepare every day," James told reporters. "I come in with a championship mindset and preaching and practicing excellence every day." James will have some help in that regard from veteran point guard Rajon Rondo, who collected 13 points and 11 assists in the opener.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Rockets PG James Harden, who led the NBA in scoring average at 30.4 points last season, scored 18 on 6-of-15 shooting in the opener.

2. The Lakers went 7-of-30 from 3-point range in the opener, including 0-of-12 in the first half.

3. Houston took five of the last six meetings, including both trips to Los Angeles last season.

PREDICTION: Rockets 125, Lakers 118