The Los Angeles Lakers found themselves in a hole early on against the Houston Rockets on Monday night. The starters struggled, and things weren’t helped when Jarred Vanderbilt was ejected early in the second quarter, putting more pressure on Rui Hachimura and Max Christie to boost the Lakers reserves.
Hachimura was solid on the night, finishing with 16 points and five rebounds, but it didn’t matter as the Lakers fell by 18 points to the Rockets, their second blowout loss in Houston this year. The Lakers seemed to gotten things together after a slow start, but a 12-point burst from Rockets rookie Cam Whitmore put them in a double-digit hole at the end of the first quarter the team was never able to climb out of.
After the game, Hachimura spoke on the Lakers struggles to start the game, believing the team has to set the tone from the beginning as every team is looking to make an example, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I think I was on the bench, but it started from the beginning of the game… We have to set the tone every game, each game. Like I’ve said before, every team is trying to come at us every game, especially in an away game for us because it’s their home game, they want to show out. They want to prove themselves, especially the young teams. But we have to be ready from the beginnings I feel like. The second quarter we tried to come back, but it was too late. They already had the momentum, they were already up by 30. So just got to set the tone from the beginning, it starts with everybody. Just got to set the tone.”
Hachimura would continue on, feeling the energy and defense from the Lakers was off and while they had a good run later in the second half, it was too little, too late:
“Just energy. Especially today, the defense was off. They were getting whatever they want so at halftime we watched the film and said we have to do it, nobody is gonna fix it for us. I think we had a good stretch for a little bit, but like I said, it was too late. I think the difference was that.”
Slow starts and a failure to come out with the necessary energy has been an issue for the Lakers all season long. Who or what is to blame for this remains unclear, but if they continue to put themselves in a hole more often than not to start games, they will never come close to reaching their potential.
Not the first time Rui Hachimura has pointed out Lakers’ lack of energy to start games
The Lakers’ struggles to come out strong are no secret and it isn’t something Hachimura hasn’t pointed out previously either.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Hachimura’s comments were almost exactly the same as after Monday’s loss. The forward noted how every team comes out looking to beat the Lakers and they have to match that energy in the first quarter or face a big deficit they will have to fight back from.
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