After picking up a massive win against the New Orleans Pelicans the night before, the Los Angeles Lakers came crashing back down to earth when they lost to the Houston Rockets.
The Lakers had no business losing to the Rockets who are currently in the race for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. Although Los Angeles was without Anthony Davis who was held out because it was a back-to-back, there’s enough talent on the roster to overcome his absence.
The most disappointing part of the loss was the fact that the Lakers looked like they were just floating for the entirety of the first half and Darvin Ham expressed his displeasure with how they came out to start the night, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“We talked about it and I’ve said it before games, after games, non-game days: energy, effort and urgency. And I thought coming out of the gates, that kind of was non-existent. I didn’t see a lot of that but I saw it on their part, Houston. Young team, regardless of what their record is they came to play and we felt them. They made us feel them in terms of them attacking the paint, them getting hits, them getting offensive rebounds, giving themselves extra possessions and we should’ve been the ones playing with that type of edge.
“But so goes the NBA. You have your ups and downs, but there’s no excuses. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for you. No matter who’s in or out the lineup we gotta come…the guys who are available and capable of playing, we gotta come and put our best foot forward. And tonight, once we did catch up they went on like a 9-0 run. Jabari hits two 3s and then Christopher hits a 3. But you put yourself behind the 8 ball if you don’t come out the right way. We have to be the ones to come out and establish a physicality and a high competitive bar.”
L.A. absolutely can not afford to have letdowns like they did against Houston, especially now because they are hanging on to the 10th spot in the Western Conference by a thread. With another pivotal game on Friday against the Dallas Mavericks coming up, the purple and gold need to find the edge they had when they played the Pelicans.
Austin Reaves says Lakers need to take things one game at a time
With only 12 games left in the regular season, it’s go-time for the Lakers who could very well miss the playoffs entirely for the second game in a row. While fans are understandably obsessing over the standings, players like Austin Reaves are remaining even-keeled and believe L.A. should be taking things one game at a time.
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