After a thrilling double overtime win to begin their six-game road trip, the Los Angeles Lakers visited Texas to play the Houston Rockets in the first night of a back-to-back set.
The win against the Golden State Warriors seemed to sap the Lakers of their energy as they were blown out by the Rockets, 135-119.
D’Angelo Russell remained hot to start the game as he hit a couple of jumpers, though the Rockets took an early 15-8 lead. After briefly falling behind by 10 points, the Lakers were able to go on a 7-0 run keyed by Anthony Davis to make it 22-17 midway through the first.
Russell gave Los Angeles their first lead of the night after burying his second triple, though it didn’t last long after a couple of layups from Jabari Smith Jr. Cam Whitmore got the Rockets crowd on their feet with several transition dunks, and the Lakers went into the second trailing 42-31 after Houston closed the quarter on a run.
After getting fouled by Dillon Brooks on a dunk, Jarred Vanderbilt got ejected from the game for confronting Brooks and making contact with him. Defensively, Los Angeles started to fall apart as they allowed Houston to score almost at will and trailed by as many as 21 points.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis looked to get the Lakers back in it by attacking the rim and chipping away at the deficit. The duo was able to ignite the offense though back-to-back threes from Brooks to end the second left Los Angeles trailing 78-60 at halftime.
It was a sluggish start for the Lakers in the third as they allowed a 7-0 run that pushed the Rockets lead to 25. Things went from bad to worse as Houston went up by 30, forcing a timeout from head coach Darvin Ham.
Even with the team down big, the lack of energy and hustle was alarming while Houston continued to pour it on. L.A. went on a run to cut the deficit to 21, but Houston responded to make it 108-84 at the end of the third.
James remained in the game to begin the fourth and knocked down his first triple of the night. His presence helped kickstart a 10-2 run though that got snapped by a Brooks 3-pointer.
James seemed aggravated after taking a shot from Brooks and was demonstrably more physical with the basketball. The Lakers were able to pull within 10, but one more run for the Rockets shut down any hope of the comeback.
What’s next for Lakers
The Lakers don’t get much time to rest as they play the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday in the second night of their back-to-back set. They’ll then meet their arch rivals the Boston Celtics on Thursday.
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