Alright welcome in to the full recap of the game between the Lakers and the Houston Rockets where defense doesn't matter, but the Rockets mustered enough of offensive firepower to top the Lakers 145-130 in an All-Star caliber offensive shootout.
First off, congratulations to Steve Nash for moving up the All-Time Assists List surpassing Mark Jackson off a fast break pass to Jodie Meeks. I load up my Team Stream app and Nash may be done for the season after his nerve root irritation popped up again. If this was the last time we see Nash this season, what a way to ride out in style. Now, the game overall, it feels like I was just watching the All-Star game all over again just seeing the score itself. I mean, my goodness.
The Positives
Nick Young, 32 points, 11-19 shooting, 6-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Aside from Meeks, who I'll get to in just a second, Young was our offense the whole game. He's had a current trend of bad shooting nights, but certainly he got his confidence back in a game like this because there was no defense this game. Swaggy P was shooting away unchallenged and that's why he once again contributed big off the bench and had a great shooting night tonight.
Jodie Meeks 30 points, 12-21 shooting. Finally a breakout game for Meeks in a long time. He wasn't hitting anything in the 1st quarter, but like what Shaq said when Derek Fisher hit the .4 shot: "one lucky shot deserves another." Meeks hit an off balance three in an attempt to draw a foul as the shot clock was expiring and it went in. After that shot, he started gaining his stride. All-around, Meeks was consistent this whole season, scoring wise, needs more improvement because he's capable of being a scoring machine and he just needs that consistency as a scorer.
Jordan Farmar, 15 points, 8 assists. I thought Farmar looked great after returning from injury. That something the Lakers missed in their current trend, a point guard that can speed the tempo. Like I said the knack I have on Farmar is his ability to stay healthy. When he's on the floor, you have to account for him because of his speed and somewhat explosiveness to get to the rim and either finish or extra pass to a man open.
The Negatives
Defense, defense, and defense. That was the problem on both teams tonight. Understandably, the Rockets weren't playing without Dwight Howard, but the Lakers were murdered inside the interior early on due to lack of size and rebounding like I said in the halftime post. The Lakers did a good job containing the three ball, although the Rockets did get their 3 point shooting going in the 3rd hence why they dropped 49 points on the Rockets, but they weren't accounting for the paint and ultimately that's what was the Lakers' downfall early on. They competed, but the Rockets turned it up and when the points in paint wasn't pouring in, they got their 3 point game to go at the right time.
Rebounding. Omer Asik, Donatas Montiejunas out-rebounded the Lakers' bigs 30-11 and just think about both Asik and Montiejunas combined were 3 rebounds away from tying the Lakers' overall rebounding numbers with 33. Obviously Gasol's out for the season, Kaman's out, but Jordan Hill and Robert Sacre couldn't do anything to keep Asik and Montiejunas from grabbing multiple boards. Even with Howard out, the Rockets continued to use size to their advantage and the Lakers just couldn't answer.
Conclusion
The Lakers are lucky enough to keep pace with the Rockets' scoring, had Howard played, this would've been a different story. I'm not making excuses, I'm being real, the Lakers wouldn't have scored much if Howard suited up for this game. Two national TV games down, two more to go. For sure, the Warriors are going to bring their playoff game, they haven't won at Staples against the Lakers in like a long time and the Grizzlies on Sunday, they're playing desperate basketball right now to sneak in with not too many games left. I'll see you guys on Friday for the game against the Warriors.
No comments:
Post a Comment