Welcome in to the full recap of the Lakers' matchup vs. the Houston Rockets in the second-to-last matchup of the NBA season where the Lakers still fall short even when the Rockets pulled their starters out early, losing 105-99.
Wow, did that game end in a hurry. You'd figure with the Rockets clinching the #1 spot, they would sit out their starters to make sure they get healthy for the playoffs. But, they still played for three and a half quarters until Mike D'Antoni pulled them out. The Lakers almost cashed in on an insane scoring run to finish the game and possibly steal one. They just fizzled out as they rode the momentum plus Houston recommitted on the defensive end to seal this game.
(+)
Andre Ingram, 19 points, 6-8 shooting, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 assist, 1 steal. This is the man of the hour right here. When I looked at the news that the Lakers signed him for the final two games, I was surprised he was 32 and bounced around the G-League. Many shed blood and tears on the basketball court to make it to the NBA and not all of them are guaranteed superstar status, let alone a roster spot on the main roster. But, as the old saying goes: good things come to those who wait and kudos to Magic and Rob Pelinka to give this guy his long-awaited shot in the big leagues. And he made the most out of it, going a perfect 4-4 to start. He also hit a clutch three, could've hit another one to cut the deficit to one point in the fourth quarter. They said he was one of the best shooters in the G-League and for a small sample size, that was pretty impressive to live up to that in an NBA game.
Josh Hart, 20 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals. Josh Hart got off to a really slow start, but finished strong to end the game. When the Rockets pulled their starters out, Hart was the catalyst on both ends of the floor to give the Lakers one final push before ultimately losing the game.
(-)
Short-handed. Nothing the Lakers can do when Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, and Lonzo Ball are shut down for the season. They've been fighting it, but they are just overmatched against deeper teams at the end of the day.
Turnovers. The turnovers were ugly for both teams. The Rockets committed 18 turnovers compared to the Lakers' 17 turnovers. Houston was handing those turnovers like they were free candy out there. Just unfortunate that the Lakers, being turnover prone, could not take advantage of that and gave some of that back with those 17 TOs.
No help defense for Ivica Zubac. I believe Zubac's time with the Lakers is done considering he can't be more physical as an inside presence. But, they did him dirty not giving any help defense to him when Chris Paul and James Harden were running circles around him. That's a big mismatch right there and Zubac's lack of lateral agility could not keep up.
MVP
Andre Ingram, 19 points, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 assist, 1 steal
There's not much more to be said. Andre Ingram finally lives his NBA dream and puts on a show he and his family and friends will never forget. No question, his game tonight is gonna be an inspiration to many to never give up on their dreams.
Conclusion
What I saw from Andre Ingram's story tonight is one of the many reasons I love sports. In a meaningless game, he was the highlight of the night putting on a show in his very first NBA game. He'll remember that for a long time. The Lakers did a good deed tonight, win or lose. That's a good way to end this segment right there as there's not much more to talk about. I'll see you guys tomorrow for the season finale against the Clippers.
No comments:
Post a Comment