A pivotal encounter between Houston And Los Angeles in Texan lands because, in the event of victory, the Lakers had the possibility of having a balanced balance sheet and taking place in the Top 8 of the West, if Dallas were to bow at the same time in San Antonio (which was ultimately not the case).
Problem: as it was a “back-to-back”, Anthony Davis did not play this match and, without him, this team obviously displays a completely different face, especially on the defensive level. This was also observed last night, since the Rockets made the law in the painting to head for a well-deserved success against the “Purple & Gold” (114-110).
Guided by Kevin Porter Jr. (27 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists), the Texans led the whole game, without ever being worried, and they offered themselves a new prestigious victory, after that won Monday night against the Celtics. As for the Californians, led by Austin Reaves (24 points, 7 assists), they miss a great opportunity to climb the standings against an opponent within their reach.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
— Los Angeles tears itself apart. The “back-to-back” cannot (and should not) justify everything because, even in these conditions and without Anthony Davis, the Lakers must show a conquering face when they face the worst team in the Western Conference. This was therefore not the case last night and the performance offered by the men of Darvin Ham was to say the least distressing, between lack of seriousness and energy, inability to make the weight in defense and in the racket, or irregularity chronicle at the shoot. A boon for the Rockets, collectively rehearsed and mentally strong, so as not to collapse when the pressure mounted.
— Without Anthony Davis, Houston wins the internal battle. With only Jarred Vanderbilt and Wenyen Gabriel as professional interiors in uniform, the Lakers expected to suffer in the racket in front of Alperen Sengun and others. This was precisely confirmed throughout this game, since Stephen Silas’ men largely dominated in the paint (78 points to 46!), taking advantage of the lack of internal deterrence in Los Angeles to accumulate the baskets near the circle. In this sense, Houston’s 8/29 3-pointer was therefore hardly problematic.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Kevin Porter Jr.. Only bleeding, caused by a cut in the head, will have slowed down the leader of the Rockets this night. Apart from that, it has actually been untouchable on the offensive level: 11/17 in shooting, including 2/5 from 3-pointers, and 3/4 in throws. Very fair in attack, which is far from always the case, “KPJ” was the engine of the Texas franchise throughout the evening, regularly taking over his vis-à-vis, in speed, to attack the circle and operate from the paint.
✅ Austin Reaves. Coming off the bench, the Sixth man of the Lakers did not miss, apart from his ugly 1/7 from 3-pointers. In scoring or creation, Reaves was the Californians’ most dangerous striker tonight, confirming his good form at the moment: almost 16 points and 5 assists on average since the All-Star Break. A significant contribution to compensate for the difficulties of D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley in the five, or Dennis Schröder and Lonnie Walker IV in rotation.
⛔ The 3-dot address. Between the Rockets’ 8/29 (28%) and the Lakers’ 11/44 (25%), it was better not to be a shooter tonight, because the misses multiplied (especially for D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Austin Reaves and Jabari Smith Jr.). Forcing each team at the same time to go to the free throw line or get closer to the circle to feed their points counter. With more or less success…
⛔ Dennis Schröder. It was already very sluggish – not to say bad – last night and, this time, difficult not to underline the performance of the German against his former team. Admittedly, author of 16 points off the bench, thanks to his 10/12 in free throws, Schröder (3/10 in the shoot) thus constantly seemed against the current of his teammates in this part, offensively speaking. To wonder why Darvin Ham did not want to try the Max Christie option, in order to let Austin Reaves lead alone (and more cleanly) the Lakers attack behind D’Angelo Russell.
THE FOLLOWING
Houston (17-52) : reception of New Orleans, on the night of Friday to Saturday (01:00).
Los Angeles (34-36) : reception of Dallas, on the night of Friday to Saturday (03:00).
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