Another day, another loss in the bubble. The Rockets' 3-point barrage was on display tonight. For the Lakers, not so much. It was difference tonight as the Lakers wrap up the back-to-back set with a 97-113 loss.
Well, I can say that the effort was a little better tonight. The Lakers used their size and pounded the Rockets' small ball lineup inside. Frank Vogel shuffled the lineup a bit. Kyle Kuzma was the beneficiary of that lineup change, leading the Lakers with 21 points. Talen Horton-Tucker got extended action, leading the bench with 10 points. I liked the fearlessness tonight from THT. Great 2nd round find from the Lakers' scout team.
Prior to this game, there's some speculation that the Lakers were playing the seeding game. Everybody said they threw the OKC game away, but they'll get back on track to beat the Rockets. No LeBron James and Anthony Davis barely playing tonight, that just made the scenario much harder. Especially when the team is shooting 2/19 from 3-point land against a team capable of shooting 3s regardless of the attempts!
The Lakers did make it competitive when they cut the lead to 89-94 in the 4th. However, the Rockets are that type of team to let opposing teams in the game before they soul crush their momentum with dagger 3s. That's how confident that team is with their shot. I don't see that same confidence in the Lakers.
We can try to downplay that the Lakers are on cruise control since they clinched the #1 spot. But as I said last night, teams gotta use these seeding games to "sharpen the blade" a bit. There's a major difference in resting down the stretch of a normal 82-game season vs. resting after a 4-month layoff after a league suspension.
Admittedly, the Lakers are trying to get back to early-March form when they were playing at a high level. Shooting under 40% from the field, 30% from 3-point land, and averaging under 100 points per game in the restart? Not a good look, especially when you got the Clippers and the Bucks regaining form. Portland is also regaining form with Dame dropping a 40-piece on the Nuggets tonight. High chance that the Lakers will see them in the first round with Memphis fumbling that 8th seed away. The Lakers gotta get right. I could care less if they lost the rest of the seeding games. If they continue to play like this, it's a cause for concern. There is no magic on/off switch for the Lakers to flip. Start fine tuning your game guys and get right! The Indiana Pacers are up this Saturday. I'll see y'all later.
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