Monday, December 4, 2017

Rockets Blast Lakers

*Stats courtesy of NBA.com and Yahoo Sports*

Kyle Kuzma notched a double-double off the bench with 22 points and 12 rebounds, but the Lakers couldn't contain the red hot Rockets, losing 118-95. Four starters were in double figures. Brandon Ingram lead the way with 18 points to go with 9 rebounds. KCP added 16 points, Larry Nance Jr. racked up 15 points to go with 8 rebounds, and Brook Lopez chipped in 10 points.

Final Score: vs. Houston 118-95 [L]
Full article: http://www.nba.com/games/20171203/HOULAL#/recap

Next Game: @ Philadelphia (12/07) <= *I'm likely not gonna do open thread and full recap posts. I'll be going to a family-related occasion.*

Highlights: *courtesy of MLG Highlights*


Well, when you suffer three tough games out of four losses, you'll be unlucky to run into a red hot team. To make matters worse, it's on back-to-back nights. The Lakers were beaten soundly by the Rockets. Houston dominated in both the paint and in the 3-point game. James Harden and Chris Paul dominated in iso plays and there was nothing the Laker defense couldn't do, especially when a player is caught one-on-one against the Rockets' back court duo. Of course, we cannot talk about a Laker loss without the turnovers. Chalk it up as an automatic L if the Lakers commit 20+ turnovers. Once again, Kyle Kuzma was one of the positives. Neither missing one game or the nagging back spasms has slowed him down. Ingram had a nice game and was aggressive in attacking the basket and crashing the boards. Clarkson and Randle being held to single digits off the bench was a rare anomaly. Clarkson had a bad shooting night based on the stats sheet. He only hit one three pointer in the 2nd quarter, and the rest of the game, you couldn't find his highlights. Randle didn't take too many shots. Absolute crickets for Lonzo Ball this game. 2 points, 1 rebound, and 3 assists. It's more growing pains for Zo, but we have to see some aggressiveness. There are some games where he's just going through the motions. This game was one of them. Maybe it's because his shot is not falling. He's a rookie and we have to abide by the don't judge a player by Year 3 rule. But, he should not have the fact that his shot is not falling get in his head. If there's anything that's a current strength in Zo's game, it's being aggressive to the basket. We have to see more of that Zo and less of the lifeless Zo when his shot is not falling.

No comments: