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The Houston Rockets convincingly defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals earlier this week.
According to Rockets point guard Austin Rivers, Houston has been waiting to face the Lakers for quite some time.
“We’ve been waiting for this, you know what I mean?” Rivers told Sam Amick of The Athletic. “I mean we’ve been waiting to play (the Lakers). Who doesn’t want to play the Lakers? We all grew up watching the Showtime Lakers and Kobe Bryant. And now, (they have) possibly the greatest player of all time – you have LeBron (James) there. It’s a fun thing to compete against. Get up for that. Anyone who says they are not lying.
“We don’t talk about it. It’s just a competitive thing. It’s no different than you (in the media) are excited to (cover). You want to cover it for a reason because you know it’s an exciting team and it’s the Lakers. “
That excitement was evident in Game 1 of the series. After a fairly competitive game during the first three quarters, the Rockets pulled away in the final draw on their way to a 112-97 victory.
Rivers had a good night coming off the bench, scoring 10 points in just 16 minutes of playing time.
Game 1 marked the second opening game of a series in which the Lakers came out flat.
They lost Game 1 to the Portland Trail Blazers, 100-93. They then dominated in Game 2 and for the remainder of the series, against the Blazers.
It will be interesting to see if they can replicate that success against the Rockets in the future.
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