Nothing if the Los Angeles Lakers are not consistent in this play. Against both the Portland Trail Blazers and the Houston Rockets, they lost their series opener. And against both the blazer and the rocket, they were later undefeated. After taking four in a row from Portland, the Lakers now have a 2-1 series lead against the Rockets, beating Houston 2 and 3 in both games. Tuesday’s win was driven by the stars. LeBron James led the Lakers in the first half with 29 points in two quarters, but Rajan Rondo surprisingly provided 21 points and nine assists to take the Lakers to the finish line.
And so, the tremendous performance by two of Houston’s best players was in vain. Russell Westbrook’s decision was certainly questionable, but he gave the Rockets 30 points in 13-of-24 shooting. James Harden finished his own points in points, but the role players put only 39 points ahead. Houston often doesn’t just try 30 3-pointers, but they do in this game, and it came back to haunt them. Now the pressure is on the rockets. If they don’t make some serious adjustments, the Lakers will send them home by the end of the week. Here is the biggest takeaway of Game 3.
Playoff Rondo
Man, legend, legend. He spends 10 months in hibernation every year, but when the posts come around Ason Sun, Rajan Rondo turns into the well-known and loved Hall of Famer in Boston. On Sunday, his personal stats were pedestrians, but the Lakers were able to lead the Rockets by 28 points during his minutes on the floor. The margin was not as big as on Tuesday, but Rondo was an inevitable element of victory with 21 points and nine assists.
Some of it boils down to effort. Rondo’s energy is different in places. Some of it has an impact on his teammates. Kyle Kuzma scored 17 points off the bench, with many Rots making cuts. When the -f-b movement stops at playoffs, it is important to have a point guard that can produce something. And some of this is just magic. Rondo’s career is 31.6 percent 3-point shooter, but he makes 40 percent in five attempts per game in the series. It is best not to overstate the Rondo incident. That’s one of the NBA’s greatest secrets, and the Lakers are pretty cool with it.
Houston is getting out of the body
Daniel House missed Game 3 for personal reasons. It is unclear whether he will return to Game 4.? Robert Cuwington took a nasty fall after a clash with Kyle Kuzma in the fourth quarter and needed to leave the game. His condition is not known. Despite scoring 30 points, Russell Westbrook has been struggling with a groin injury for most of this postseason.
At a certain stage, teams hit a point of no return when injuries occur. In Game 3, players from the Houston role only scored 6-pointers. This was a team that already had -4–4 Eric Gordon defending LeBron James. They don’t have the exact margin for error that a normal claimant does. James Harden and Russell Westbrook were the only source of consistent offense in their Game 3, and that is about to change in Game 4.
The Lakers are changing things defensively
The Lakers can live with 33 points from the Harden while the rest of the Rockets are struggling. Houston’s way of winning the series, given the last two games, is easily dependent on Harden’s scoring in the 40s of the rest of the series. It’s always possible with a scoring champion, but without a stopper like the Lakers, Lou Dort, many different looks have thrown Hardon’s way, especially in the second half, he’s struggling to find any kind of rhythm.
In Game 2, the 1-2-2 zone star they used in the second and fourth quarters. In game 3, it was their strictest traps. In Game 2, those traps led to 20 3-pointers in three quarters for the Rockets because they were too aggressive. The Lakers had so little purpose wrapped defenders on the court that Hardon had time to swing the ball to easily open the shooter. In Game 3, the traps were more decisive. Usually, the trader came from a player close to Harden, and both defenders kept him in the shadows from that direction so that a clear pass could be taken. The Lakers were running traps so late in the start clock that the Rockets had no time to get the ball back into the harden with no time to make. Especially with non-shooters like Westbrook in the game, the rotations were fairly smooth. The Lakers got the necessary stops.
Game in will have a Houston counter. The Lakers have that counter ready. His plan against Harden is to constantly change the plan, and so far, he is working towards perfection.
