ROCKETS -at- LAKERS - 4-11-25 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Three Seed... With the Rockets resting several players, the Lakers cruised to an easy 140-109 win. They secured their spot at No. 3 and can rest players for the final game of the season.

The Lakers fell back early in the first quarter, rattled off an 11-2 run and then never looked back. After a series of three-point plays later in the second quarter, they were up by 20.

The Rockets trimmed the lead to 14 midway through the third quarter as LeBron tweaked the groin again and left the game immediately. It didn’t look good, but no one seemed overly concerned about it.

Luka and DFS had a series of three-point plays after that and the lead stretched to 20 heading into the fourth where the Lakers eventually stretched the lead further.

Good job securing the win and third spot. The team can rest, plan for their opponent, whomever that may be, and watch other teams battle it out in the play-in games for a change.


LeBron -- -- “He’s fine. He’s fine,” JJ said after the game about LeBron. He sounded very confident. There was a deflected pass in the middle of the court that was heading to Bron and he jerked his body a little to try to react to it and was in instant pain early in the third quarter. He had his hands on his knees and looked upset as he hobbled to the bench. You think back to all the little plays that cost the Lakers a single game this season (including Bron’s mental mistakes in the final seconds of a game we had all but wrapped up). Take one of those W’s and he’s probably not playing in this game to where something like this happens. So, he sat on the bench and iced up early in the third quarter. Prior to this, his health had been looking amazing. He had another one-handed throwdown off a Luka lob that was crazy to see. He was up cheering for Reaves on a throwdown and later reviewing the blown layup Reaves had the play before. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-11 shooting (1-4 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a +5.

Luka -- -- Brilliant as always. Out of the gates, another strong first quarter. Love seeing the ball in his hands for set plays with multiple actions. Early in the game, he found Bron coming off the backscreen by AR for the lob dunk. The double drag plays we run seem to always turn into something (he hit DFS for a three tonight on that…and found him a few other times). On his drives, he slows the game down to find the right pass and the right time to open teammates. And if you aren’t sending that help and leaving guys on islands against him, you’re toast. The stepback threes were falling. He muscled guys on his way to the rim. The up-fakes, ball fakes, stop and goes, all of that causes problems and he was a frequent visitor to the line tonight. Didn’t knock them down great, otherwise he could have had another 45-point outing in three quarters of action. The Stats: He scored 39 points on 13-19 shooting (5-9 from three, 8-14 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 7 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 31 minutes. He was a +15.

Reaves -- -- A lot of cheering from Bron for AR during the second half after LBJ hurt himself. He loved seeing Reaves throwdown on the break (after AR blew a layup the play before) Sweetest move the game for AR was a fake to head back to the three line, then stapped on the gas to blow by his man and score an And-1 layup. Bron was up again giving AR his props on that one. He had another iso where changed directions behind his back and swished a midrange. Bron put Reaves in a headlock when Reaves came off the floor in the fourth and then they had a somewhat silly celebration about not being in the play-in game. “I feel like this year has been five years in total, but then again it feels like it just started at the same,” Reaves said. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 9-15 shooting (3-6 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals, 5 turnovers and 2 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +17.

Hachimura -- -- I love the efficiency from Rui and DFS tonight. They combined for 34 points on 12-17 shooting. The two of them stepped up the scoring in the fourth quarter when Luka and Bron sat. Rui took it to smaller defenders in the post several times in this one. I love seeing us recognize the switches, have him post up and cause trouble. Teams are going to look to hide someone on D when you got LBJ, Luka and AR out there. They try to do that at times with Rui, but the Lakers will go after that if someone tries it in the playoffs. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-8 shooting (1-2 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 assist and 2 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +15.

Hayes -- -- Really short minutes again. He struggled from the freethrow line (they said he was 3 for his last 13 from the line at one point in this game). Got to make those. Lob dunk for him off a Bron drive. Then another dunk on the roll from Luka. Later Bron found him rolling for a dunk over a small on the weakside. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-3 shooting (1-4 from the line) to go with 1 board and 2 fouls in 12 minutes. He was a +1.

Finney-Smith -- -- He bombed six threes in this game. Those helped break the game open in the fourth. The Lakers had a big lead, but finally took over the game for good with some of his shot making. Luka found him multiple times for threes early on. Defensively, he had a nice read on the weakside to break up a backdoor pass, one of three steals. We struggled to get him going when he first got here, now he’s finding his rhythm and playing very comfortably on offense. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 6-9 shooting (6-8 from three) to go with 3 steals and 1 foul in 30 minutes. He was a +15.

Vincent -- -- AR blew the highlight play of the game for Gabe. Vincent had stolen the ball on the sideline and saved it down court to a streaking AR, who promptly choked the finish. Great hustle play, no highlight reel for you, though. The team-high +25 was likely because our bench was playing their deep bench. Some good moments defensively, including a nice help D zone rotation play to force a miss at the rim. Only player not to score tonight. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-3 shooting from three to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a +25.

Vanderbilt -- -- Some dunks for Vando in this game. He slammed off a Bron interior feed. Bron also hit him with a no-looker in transition for another dunk. He faked a handoff and attacked for a slam midway through the fourth. Some good use of him with the screens and in that dunker spot. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-5 shooting to go with 4 boards, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +12.

Knecht -- -- He drilled a three and threw down a dunk in garbage time. He should start in the next game. Let’s see what kind of numbers he can put up. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-2 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 1 foul in 4 minutes. He was a +6.

Goodwin -- -- He buried a three for his only bucket. That was on a Bron cross-court feed behind a pin-in screen. Good job, as usual, on the rebounding. He’s worked his way into the last man of the Laker rotation it seems. DK wasn’t in the mix tonight until garbage time. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 6 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a +21.

Milton -- -- He attacked off the catch down the lane for a layup in garbage time for his only bucket. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 1 board and 1 steal in 4 minutes. He was a +8.

Bronny -- -- One of the biggest cheers of the night was Bronny drilling a three in garbage time. That shot has been looking strong lately (9 of his last 21 from three, they said). I’m looking forward to big minutes in the next one. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and no fouls in 4 minutes. He was a +6.

Jemison -- -- He crashed the glass for a putback off a Bronny dribble penetration miss in the final minute. He also hit Dalton cutting baseline for a jam. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting to go with 3 boards, 1 assist and no fouls in 4 minutes. He was a +8.

Redick -- -- “It was about eight ice buckets that was put on me,” JJ said after the game… He was proud of the team, and called this the third iteration of the team this year. Third seed and with so much player movement, the coaches did an excellent job this season implementing their systems and then adjusting as needed with all the player changes on the roster… He said they want to prioritize rest and recovery but want to stay in the rhythm they had… Looking forward to seeing who we face and seeing JJ and company set up the game plan for them…

[mhan00]

3 seed baby

[Dr. Laker]

Thanks, DB!

Give LBJ, Luka, Rui, Jax & AR the next 4 days off. Practice on the 17th & 19th.
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[Laker7]

[ribeye]

[pio2u]

Thx DB!

[danzag]

Thanks, DB!

50 wins baby!

[ChefLinda]

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Don't blame me. I voted for Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton.

[miggz23]

Reed Sheppard reminds me a lot of Jimmy Fredette. I'm not sure if he last in the NBA... He is too undersized and not enough athleticism. He was the 3rd pick overall?