LAKERS -at- ROCKETS - 3-15-23 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Missing AD, Giving Away A Game... The scheduled rest for AD on the second night of the back-to-back cost the Lakers tonight. That might have worked with Mo Bamba in the mix, but not without. In the 15 minutes Wenyen Gabriel wasn’t on the floor, the Lakers were a -16.

Easy scores at the rim for the Rockets to start just by running offense through Sengun or attacking the paint with no resistance. They quickly pulled out to a 10-point lead -- just too easy to score. The Rockets had 20 of their first 27 points in the paint. The layups and dunks continued all first half as they would have 48 of their 62 in the paint.

With no AD, no Bamba (and no LeBron, our small ball C), there was zero presence in the paint early on and offensively, it was a lot of iso ball.

They cut it to 8 just a couple minutes into the second half with some threes and Gabriel now starting at center. But they’d give up a couple more layups and Ham called a timeout.

A minute into the fourth quarter, they’d cut it down to 4 points, then give up three straight threes.

The Lakers fell 114-110, and once again don’t pull to .500.


Russell -- -- He hit a three at the end of the half to lead the Lakers with 13 points along with Reaves. He sank three threes in the first half. He had some poor three attempts late in the game where he was twisting his body. He then also double-clutched one. Just making things too difficult. He missed four threes over the course of a couple minutes or so late in the game when the Lakers trying to make a final push. Things would have been interesting had a couple dropped. Just a little too inefficient tonight. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 5-17 shooting (3-11 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 1 board, 7 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -1.

Hachimura -- -- We started him in place of AD. That was a mistake. The Rockets just went straight to the rim every time. Offensively, he made a pull-up jumper and a three on a kickout. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-5 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 1 block, 1 turnover and no fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -15.

Vanderbilt -- -- I mentioned his passing a few games back. Again, really good tonight, especially in transition. He had several pushouts that turned into Laker scores. He had a drive and kick to Beasley for a three. He pushed it up through traffic and found Russell for a layup. He was also setup by teammates. He finished a lob from DLo and nother from Reaves. Russell and Brown found him for a couple of layups. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-13 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to gow ith 10 boards (3 offensive), 5 assists, 2 steals and 4 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a -4.

Beasley -- -- The hot shooting didn’t really keep up in this one. He made 4 threes, but on 12 attempts. He’d also get a couple on drives. Normally, this probably an okay enough game. His presence would have given AD or LBJ room to work but without them, we need more efficiency. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-17 shooting (4-12 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 steal and 1 foul in 32 minutes. He was a -5.

Brown -- -- He sank a couple of threes and had a layup in transition. Early on he played some PF. That’s never good. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-5 shooting (2-4 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -6.

Reaves -- -- The lone star of the Lakers first half (and maybe the game). Reaves had 11 points on 4-5 shooting in his first shift, getting a couple of And-1s in the paint. He also had an iso where he shook his man, attacked middle, up-faked the recovery attempt for a block and then stepped through for a layup. He continued to get to the line as the game went along (11-13 from the line, LBJ would be jealous). The three ball wasn’t working for him, though. He had a big miss late in the third that could have cut it to 2. The Rockets would then score back-to-back layups and the Lakers were down 9 again. Interesting play at the end of the game. Reaves stole the ball and went in for a score at the buzzer and got hit in the head. If he made that bucket and with the flagrant, you have a chance for a 5-point play potential. But Reaves missed one of the FTs and it was moot. The Stats: He scored 24 points on 6-14 shooting (1-7 from three, 11-13 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 27 minutes. He was a +1.

Schröder -- -- Good job getting to the line. That made for a more efficient night despite going 3-10 shooting. A lot of attacking, a lot of getting contact. He and Reaves combined for 21-25 from the line. We could have used more playmaking from Dennis. The team was very iso-oriented tonight. Normally, he’s a guy getting you some assists. He had 0 tonight. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 3-10 shooting (0-2 from three, 10-12 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 0 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 25 minutes. He was a -6.

Gabriel -- -- He started the second half for Rui at the C spot, should have started the game. He gave us enough of a presence there. He was deterring some shots, but did a really good job on the glass. That helped get us more one-and-out possessions that we were getting killed earlier, but also got us more possessions on the other end with 7 offensive boards. The Lakers really need an extra back-up big with Mo gone for a month. Any kind of warm body might have made the difference tonight. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-5 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 14 boards (7 offensive), 1 assist, 2 steals and 5 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +12.

Walker IV -- -- He drew FTs on a drive to the rim and he finished a lob attempt in transition. The team played fine while he was out there. We just needed another big body instead of another guard. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-4 shooting (0-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) and 1 block in 11 minutes. He was a +4.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: With 10:45 left Hachimura hit a three to cut it to 6 as Reaves worked on the offensive glass he took a forearm to the throat, a tech to make it a 4-point play to cut it to 5. Another drive by Dennis next possession for FTs, he made one to cut it to 4 with 10:17 left (could have been three). Then, the Rockets hit three straight threes to go right back up by 13 8:50 left. That was painful.

Key Substitution: Starting Rui instead of Wenyen. He changed it up in the second half, but we enticed the paint attacks early and just had the ball crammed down our throats. No zone with that unit, either.

Key Stats: The Rockets had 78 points in the paint, 48 of those were in the first half.

[eddiejonze]

First.
What is the point of resting AD on back to backs, if you don’t even make the play in?!?!
Such a stupid stupid stupid concept.
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Creatures crawl in search of blood, To terrorize y'alls neighborhood.

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB! The Lakers organization treated this game as a scheduled loss. It is what it is.

[Startrout]

I don’t like to rant too much as I mostly trust the front office and coaching staff. But we could have signed any big shot blocking center to a 10 day, then just had him stand in the paint all night and we would have won. We can’t risk giving away very winnable games at this point in the season.

Even at the beginning of the season some of us thought we should have put Huff on the 2 way contract and/or sign another big because we just didn’t have enough center depth. The lack of forethought has bitten us and will likely bite us again if we even get in the playoffs.

[unleasHell]

Gabriel should start when AD is out...

he's earned it...
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What does Marcellus Wallace look like?

[A Mad Chinaman]

"Give a Game" Time

Lakers didn't come with the needed edge or URGENCY against a team with one of the worst record in the NBA but just beat the Celtics! This roster without AD and LBJ has proven again that it can't even beat lower-tier teams

One wondered why playing any type of zone defense was utilized

Since Rui wasn't making the opposing centers work on offense and not defending the rim on defense, glad that his minutes were low.

Lakers missed many chippies right at the basket that seemed to deflate our ability to play a high level of defense, hence the high number of points in the paint by the Rockets

Interesting that Schroeder didn't have any assists during this game

Where was the movement on offense?

With Beasley, DLo, Schroeder and Rui not being efficient on their outside shooting - along with missing key and strategic chippies - Ham shared that not having the required sense of urgency (mistakenly thinking that they didn't need to work hard to win this game) resulted in not having clean and shots taken in rhythm, the offense was disjointed

With the failure of the bench to take care of business in the last Pelicans game, along with what happened to night, should provide the coaching staff plenty of ammunition to teach and reminder of the ramifications to the Lakers (minus AD & LBJ). How many Lakers own up to their efficiency, like what AD did recently

[Dr. Laker]

[ThePageDude]

[JUST-MING]

Unpopular opinion, they win this one with Russell Westbrook.

They still had Dangelo Russell and “the deep bench.” I don’t see the point of whining about a 10 day.

[cganesh75]

[TDRock]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

[SGSD32]

[LakerSD]

[venturalakersfan]

[tlim]

The NBA needs to go to any games not injured, you just don’t get paid. It also affects your stats to 0 across the line for stats, and thus reducing your value.

[Startrout]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[ThePageDude]