It had been smooth sailing for the Los Angeles Lakers as of late. As soon as LeBron James re-joined the lineup from a brief absence, the Lakers evolved into a brand new team.
Since the King’s return, the squad boasted the seventh-best offense and 10th-best defense in the NBA. They won seven of nine contests, catapulting to a top seed in the Western Conference.
For a team with plenty of question marks, the Lakers were starting to find some answers, and the Hollywood script was finally getting interesting. But then again, what’s a good script without some conflict?
On Sunday night, the Lakers traveled to Houston, where they quickly found themselves on the wrong end of a 22-point deficit in the first half against the Rockets at the Toyota Center.
In an encouraging display of resilience, the team clawed their way back into the game, but couldn’t quite overcome the sizable deficit and ultimately lost, 119-115.
The Lakers fell behind after an abysmal first half
The first half was a nightmare for the Lakers. The team struggled to connect on open looks while the Rockets couldn’t miss. Houston erupted for nearly 70 points in the first half, shooting 56% from the floor (28-50) and 38% from downtown (8-21). Jalen Green added 18 points in the first quarter alone, finishing the contest with 33 with five triples.
“Even their fans can’t miss,” joked Lakers commentator Stu Lantz as a Rockets fan drilled a halfcourt shot to win $25,000 during a break in the second quarter.
Leading by as many as 22 points, Houston carried an overwhelming 67-49 advantage heading into the second half of play.
Los Angeles closed the gap in the second half
Whatever it was that Coach Redick told his team in the locker room before the second half, it worked. The Lakers caught fire in the third, shooting nearly 60% from the field and knocking down nine triples, all while locking in on the defensive end. By the end of the quarter, it was a two-point game.
The Rockets quickly jumped back out to a double-digit lead to start the fourth, but the Lakers kept coming back. The squad rode the hot hand of Anthony Davis – who led the team with 30 points, 13 rebounds, and five blocks – to remain within striking distance. And after Houston missed a late-game free throw, the Lakers called timeout with possession of the ball and a chance to tie.
Down three with seven seconds to go, Max Christie took the ball out past half court. Every Laker was smothered by the Houston defense, leading Christie to force a bad pass to James that was intercepted by Fred VanVleet.
The Lakers had no choice but to foul and VanVleet hit one of two free throws to make it a two-possession game. Los Angeles called another timeout and once again looked to inbound the ball at half-court with five seconds left.
This time, Dorian Finney-Smith found a wide-open James at the top of the key who buried the deep triple. However, the shot was waved off as Davis was called for an offensive foul. The Rockets then dribbled out the remaining few seconds for a four-point victory.
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Rebounding decided the Lakers’ fate
James – who finished the game with 21 points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists – explained to reporters that he signaled for a timeout before Christie had inbounded the ball. Meanwhile, Davis vehemently disagreed with the referee’s late whistle.
However, James, Davis, and the rest of the locker room agreed that the game wasn’t lost because of a turnover or a foul – it was lost because they couldn’t grab a rebound.
“Our inability to get defensive rebounds was the difference in the game,” said coach Redick in his postgame interview.
The Rockets are the best rebounding team in the league and the Lakers are one of the worst. And when it came to cleaning glass on Sunday night, Houston was a bottle of Windex while Los Angeles was a packet of ketchup.
As the Rockets stretched their lead in the first half, they outrebounded the Lakers 28-14. Los Angeles simply didn’t have an answer for the tenacious big man duo of Steven Adams and Amen Thompson, the latter of which recorded a career-high 16 rebounds to go along with 23 points.
When it was all said and done, Houston outrebounded Los Angeles 49-39. The Rockets grabbed a whopping 18 offensive boards that resulted in 28 second-chance points, which continuously halted the Lakers’ momentum.
“We fought to give ourselves a chance to win, but their second chance opportunities and their offensive rebounds are what really hurt us tonight,” Davis told reporters after the game.
Elsewhere for the Lakers, Austin Reaves scored 21 points with 10 assists, Christie threw in 14 points and six boards, while Rui Hachimura and Finney-Smith both added 13 apiece. With the loss, the Lakers dropped to 20-15 and fell to fifth place in the Western Conference. They will continue their tour of Texas as they head up to Dallas to play the Mavericks on Tuesday night.
