LAKERS TONIGHT

Opponent--Houston Rockets.

Site--Summit, Houston.

Time--5.

TV--Channel 9, TNT

Radio--KLAC (570).

Records--Lakers 38-16, Rockets 36-19.

Record vs. Rockets--1-1.

Laker update--They have lost two in a row against elite teams since Shaquille O’Neal went out, the SuperSonics and Knicks, and now begin a five-game trip that includes two more such matchups, against the Rockets and Hawks. This comes as the Lakers head into a stretch in which 12 of the next 19 games are on the road.

Rocket update--Speaking of teams with injury problems, the Rockets have had their three all-stars stars--Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley and Clyde Drexler--in the lineup together only 30 times this season. They are 24-6 in those games, and 12-13 in all others. Barkley has been back since just after the all-star break, but Drexler is expected to miss another two to four weeks because of the strained hamstring.