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The final score looks a lot more respectable than the game was for the vast majority of the night, as our Houston Rockets mostly didn’t show up in another big moment, falling behind by as much as 23 before a comeback late in the game. fourth quarter made the final score of 110-100 not embarrassing.
There are two ways to respond to adversity, and unfortunately for these Rockets, the usual end result is that they fall apart, and sadly that happened again here tonight.
With the Danuel House drama lingering in the background, Houston might have been galvanized by a possible us versus the world moment, but instead they came out listless, lacking the defensive energy they had shown in the bubble up to this point. and a passive offense that will never make it at this level.
The Rockets were wiped out on all hustle stats. They were beaten on the boards 52-26, crushed on points in the paint 62-24, dominated 19-2 in fast break points, had only one offensive rebound and no second-chance points.
The Rockets lost double digits pretty much overnight as the Lakers split them on the inside, but Houston used an 18-2 run in the fourth quarter when Los Angeles had nearly mailed it to make the final score less so. unbalanced on the record. books as it was to our eyes.
James Harden finished just 2-11 from the field, without breaking any major game narrative in the short term, with a total of 21 points, 16 of which came on free throws; again, without breaking narratives. He had 10 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 blocks, contributing in other ways, but Houston needed Harden in his prime, and he wasn’t. The Lakers cheat is no excuse. Teams have been catching Harden all year.
The Rockets also got 25 points from Russell Westbook on shooting 8-16, and while Russ looked good at times, it wasn’t enough to make up for a bad night from Harden. It should have been great.
Eric Gordon shot for 19 points on 4 3-pointers, while Austin Rivers had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists to finally appear after wrestling most of the series, while Jeff Green and Ben McLemore each had 9 points. But that was it for Houston’s top taxpayers.
PJ Tucker and Robert Covington combined for 3 total points, and the Houston defense was decimated all night and plagued with slow changes and rotations, so there weren’t many intangibles involved there, either.
The Lakers were led by Anthony Davis, who finished with 29 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists, LeBron James. who had 16 points, 15 rebounds and 9 assists, and Alex Caruso, who finished with 16 points off the bench, including three finishes that hampered Houston’s Hail Mary run in the fourth.
They also got 11 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists from Rajon Rondo, and 10 points each from Danny Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
It was a disappointing response from the Rockets in the biggest game of the year, and while the series is not over yet, it will take a legendary NBA return to change the history of this one. I was expecting more from these guys that we just didn’t get tonight, which doesn’t bode well for my prediction.
