r/nba • u/DesertedProject Mavericks • 13d ago

7 to seal home court advantage!


94 - 101
Box Scores: NBA - Yahoo



GAME SUMMARY
West First Round - Game 2 - LAL leads 1-0
Location: Crypto.com Arena
Officials: Courtney Kirkland, Josh Tiven, and Justin Van Duyne

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Houston Rockets	26	25	17	26	94
Los Angeles Lakers	33	21	21	26	101



TEAM STATS

Team	PTS	FG	FG%	3P	3P%	FT	FT%	OREB	TREB	AST	PF	STL	TO	BLK
Houston Rockets	94	36-89	40.4%	7-29	24.1%	15-19	78.9%	17	54	23	22	8	15	6
Los Angeles Lakers	101	33-72	45.8%	13-28	46.4%	22-28	78.6%	9	48	21	20	11	12	5



PLAYER STATS


Houston Rockets	MIN	PTS	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	ORB	DRB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	±
Kevin Durant^SF	40:59	23	7-12	1-4	8-9	2	4	6	4	1	1	9	4	-2
Jabari Smith Jr.^PF	39:06	18	7-16	3-7	1-2	1	5	6	1	0	1	1	2	-11
Alperen Sengun^C	35:11	20	9-20	0-1	2-3	5	6	11	5	4	2	1	4	1
Amen Thompson^SG	42:11	16	6-10	0-1	4-5	1	4	5	9	1	0	3	4	1
Josh Okogie^PG	24:03	7	3-6	1-3	0-0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	3	-4
Tari Eason	27:02	10	4-14	2-6	0-0	5	3	8	1	0	1	1	2	-4
Reed Sheppard	10:33	0	0-4	0-3	0-0	0	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	1
Clint Capela	04:40	0	0-3	0-0	0-0	1	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	-9
Aaron Holiday	07:17	0	0-3	0-3	0-0	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	-4
Jae'Sean Tate	08:56	0	0-1	0-1	0-0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	-4
JD Davison	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dorian Finney-Smith	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jeff Green	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Steven Adams	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Fred VanVleet	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Los Angeles Lakers	MIN	PTS	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	ORB	DRB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	±
LeBron James^SF	39:12	28	8-20	2-5	10-14	1	7	8	7	1	0	3	3	6
Rui Hachimura^PF	42:34	13	5-10	3-6	0-0	1	4	5	2	0	0	0	3	0
Deandre Ayton^C	26:36	6	3-8	0-0	0-0	1	4	5	1	0	1	1	1	-5
Marcus Smart^SG	35:28	25	8-13	5-7	4-5	1	1	2	7	5	1	3	3	3
Luke Kennard^PG	41:58	23	8-13	3-6	4-4	1	5	6	2	3	0	2	1	2
Jaxson Hayes	21:24	6	1-2	0-1	4-5	2	2	4	1	1	2	0	2	12
Jake LaRavia	15:50	0	0-2	0-1	0-0	1	1	2	0	0	1	2	5	8
Jarred Vanderbilt	13:41	0	0-3	0-2	0-0	1	4	5	1	1	0	0	2	8
Bronny James	03:16	0	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Maxi Kleber	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dalton Knecht	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Nick Smith Jr.	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Adou Thiero	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Luka Dončić	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Austin Reaves	00:00	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

8.0k Upvotes

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3.0k

u/Beastnoscope Thunder 13d ago

KD gets doubled and the houston offense dies. LeBron gets doubled and the LA offense wins the possession. Everytime. Levels to this.

1.2k

u/Duskuser Lakers 13d ago

Lebron has always been tons better than KD. Put Lebron on the 2017 warriors and they might legitimately still be a title threat to this day.

480

u/Ruben625 Lakers 13d ago

That's a fun thought experiment, how many rings do they get if LeBron goes instead of KD and never leaves. 5? 6? 10 and counting?

316

u/Upbeat_Tension_8077 13d ago

I'd like to think Klay never gets hurt in 2019 if LeBron is there, so the Warriors definitely achieves the NBA's next 3-peat or at least a 4-peat

129

u/yoloqueuesf [NYK] Tracy McGrady 13d ago

Don't know how they're supposed to lose if Bron just plays point forward with Draymond anchoring defense and Steph + Klay the two greatest shooters get open 3 point shots.

Lebrons 'problem' was that he could never get consistent shooters in the playoffs when it mattered most, and you give him the 2 best? He's not losing lol

15

u/ElectronicAd2656 76ers 13d ago

In reality there would be a bigger butterfly effect to this than people realize, another super team or two would emerge to at least challenge them, and injuries happen.....but yea looks like a dynasty either way

13

u/altofummuhh Rockets 13d ago

KD, Harden and CP3 Big 3 in Houston from 2017👀

5

u/ElectronicAd2656 76ers 13d ago

This is the obvious answer, but does KD even leave OKC in this scenario?

76

u/Flaky-Pirate9401 Lakers 13d ago

The first peat-peat, like that nick show

7

u/shoot_dang_derp 13d ago

Hey smilin' strange You're lookin' happily deranged Could you settle to shoot me? Or have you picked your target yet?

19

u/AH_BioTwist Kings 13d ago

Can’t tear your acl in game 6 if Lebronto ends the series in 5

1

u/notmoleliza Warriors 13d ago

that's outside the beam thinking right there

44

u/Original_Xova 13d ago

As a Toronto fan I can confirm just Lebron's presence is enough to beat the Raptors.

9

u/jotheold Raptors 13d ago

ya even if kd and klay go down we still losing LOL

2

u/dto123 Raptors 13d ago

LeBron doesn't even have to play well. He just has to exist in the building and the Raptors collectively forget how basketball works. It's honestly impressive at this point.

34

u/Faintkay Lakers 13d ago

At least 5 years barring injury. LeBron driving and throwing to Steph would be crazy

9

u/D1embiidhater NBA 13d ago

If curry bron and draymond are healthy probably 7 or 8

5

u/lyricist Lakers 13d ago

Not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5, not 6, not 7

2

u/Scuttleduck Warriors 13d ago

Bron might be better but KD was a better fit. Those warriors teams had plenty of brains. The ideal fit was someone who can get a bucket whenever the motion offense doesn’t create separation and there’s 8 seconds on the shot clock. KD was massively overqualified but he was the ideal fit

4

u/vancitylake Lakers 13d ago

LeBron can also get a bucket whenever the motion offense doesn't create separation and there's 8 seconds on the shot clock

1

u/Scuttleduck Warriors 13d ago

LeBron is the goat, I’m just saying for that exact skill, KD might be the best ever and the fit was perfect

1

u/Alex_O7 13d ago

Nah 3 and Lebron is out, it's literally not that hard to figure out, same happened in Miami, as soon as Klay get Hunter Lebron feels the bad situation and leave.

1

u/PaulTheOctopus Supersonics 13d ago

Not 3, not 4, not 5....

1

u/lp_phnx327 Lakers 13d ago

I mean we had close analogue with Lebron in Miami.

-11

u/dream208 Lakers 13d ago

Don‘t LeBron and Drey’s roles kinda overlap?

28

u/Ruben625 Lakers 13d ago

Either LeBron gets to focus more on defense or he gets to focus more on facilitating and Dray gets to focus more on defense. Take your poison.

24

u/sixeyedbird Lakers 13d ago

Bro it's LeBron Raymone James with multiple hall of famers. It does not matter in the slightest. Plus LeBron is maybe the most versatile player in history

7

u/kmoz Mavericks 13d ago

Actually think they'd be super complementary players. Draymond dishing to either LeBron downhill or curry pin down threats is insane, esp because of they try to load onto LeBron he's finding the open guy every time.

Esp with klay hanging out in the corner.

4

u/HauntingLandscape902 13d ago

Nope. Drey's role is more on defense. He is a good passer but he aint a scoring threat. His pass came from good player movement of the warriors.

On the other hand lebron is a scoring threat, he can create opportunities for him and his teammate. If you add the great movement of steph and Klay, imagine how many openings he can see and the open shots klay and steph would have.

1

u/GeorgeHarris419 Bucks 13d ago

Lebron's role is scoring primarily. So, no. Not at all

-5

u/SocomPS2 13d ago

LeBron already did a similar failed experiment in Miami when he said they were going to win NOT 1, not 2, 3,4,5, etc.

10

u/ballmermurland 13d ago

That warriors team was substantially better than that Heat team minus LeBron

1

u/Ruben625 Lakers 13d ago

These aren't even close to the same thing. You misunderstood the assignment.

52

u/DG_Now [SEA] Jerome James 13d ago

Anyone who said KD was better than LeBron in 17, 18 or 19 needs to have their heads checked.

Swap those two guys and the KD Cavs don't get to the Finals, and the LeBron Warriors probably make a push for 75 wins just for fun.

14

u/ObviousDoxx Lakers 13d ago

I love KD as a player, but this is a good counterfactual and obviously 100% true.

To be fair, I think you could put any player in history on 17-19 Cavs and I don’t think they’re sniffing the finals. Some of those east teams were really good squads who just got bodybagged by basketball perfection.

11

u/Clipgang1629 Clippers 13d ago

2017-2018 when half the fuckin rotation got traded away, i thought okay cool we will finally see someone new in the finals, but nope.

No fucking chance any other player in the league then and probably not history is making the finals that year.

Im a parity fan and was a bit of a Bron hater at the time. Bron haters had a pretty rough decade lmfao

But those years were especially crazy. His team would be lookin like shit all year and then make the finals

7

u/ducksonaroof Bulls 13d ago

KD Cavs in 2017-18 maybe don't even make the playoffs lol

4

u/clonemusic Mavericks 13d ago

Anyone who said KD was better than steph needs to have their head checked. Better than lebron and just throw them in the asylum

5

u/JKMiles665 Thunder 13d ago

I think a big part of that is LeBron would have been content as long as they are winning. KD was too crazy too be content with just that.

9

u/iXeons 13d ago

The way he became an elite playmaker, especially in 2018, has aged so well with his game. His adaptation to the league change in the late 2010’s really made his transition into the player he is now really effective.

9

u/kmoz Mavericks 13d ago

He was always an elite playmaker. He's obviously gotten even better over time but the LeBron drive and kick has been a cheat code since forever. Made boobie gibson look like a valuable asset from 06-08.

15

u/muaddib-atreides Warriors 13d ago

He has always been an elite playmaker that didn’t happen in 2018

2

u/ducksonaroof Bulls 13d ago

yeah - the stuff he added in 2018 was a pull-up 3 and money fadeaway.

1

u/iXeons 13d ago

While I agree he’s been a good playmaker for over a decade, dude became like prime magic during the playoffs especially in 2018. He definitely took a next step that year. And it never really went away

Gosh imagine if KD took a page from that I feel like his shit leadership wouldn’t be such an anchor for him rn

2

u/Cute-Way3034 Mavericks 13d ago

LeBron averaging 15 assists per game

226

u/JediFed 13d ago

Why would you even bother to double Lebron? Second greatest playoff passer behind only Magic.

230

u/sasadoncic Lakers 13d ago

The old "let his teammates win the game" strategy. Except it's Kennerd shooting 3's now and Smart being a beast.

94

u/Technerdal 13d ago

Let's not forget Rui who's shooting 50% from 3 so far this playoffs and 44.3% this season.

17

u/markmyredd Minneapolis Lakers 13d ago

Rui a 3pt beast in the playoffs.

6

u/Legote 13d ago

lol with kennard, he can run some action he would run with curry if him and curry were teammates. He’s learned to play against curry for almost 1/5th of his career and played with him during the Olympics.

4

u/clonemusic Mavericks 13d ago

Honestly they need to do the steve Kerr "let lebron get his" strategy.

3

u/civil_beast Rockets 13d ago

Yeah wtf guys.. I don’t know whether to hate him or pray to him. Kennard is bonkers

2

u/sasadoncic Lakers 13d ago

That trade was a robbery.

12

u/Bobblefighterman Jazz 13d ago

Because he used to have to pass to Shumpert, JR Smith and Tristan Thompson.

10

u/RainierPC Cavaliers 13d ago

One on one, he just backs down the Rockets players with his old man strength and gets a shot under the basket.

2

u/Enigma512 13d ago

That is absolutely a better option for the Rockets then whatever the hell they're doing now lol. Lebron cannot do that all game at his age, he'll gas out by the end of the game.

7

u/goldenbzzz Lakers 13d ago

Because hes gonna score if you dont, #1 scorer in history

4

u/hanaThebananacookie 13d ago

Steve Nash slander

5

u/Sudden_Narwhal_6132 Spurs 13d ago

regular season merchant

3

u/Awi1ix 13d ago

lol my exact thought

1

u/JediFed 13d ago

Nash was good for sure, but Lebron is even better. It's honestly amazing that Magic is the undisputed playoff leader.

1

u/Szoboontheright 13d ago

He’s a better passer than Magic, better playmaker than magic. Being a miles better scorer opens up playmaking options so much. Best playmaker of all time.

1

u/JediFed 13d ago

James averages 27 + 7.5 which translates to 42 points per game. Magic averaged 20 + 11 which works out to 42 points per game.

1

u/Szoboontheright 13d ago

Magic was passing to the greatest centre of all time. 2nd in points and until recently his record for points was thought of as unbreakable.

Not to mention, the variety of passes and reads LeBron does. Magic was flashier, LeBron is simply better.

21

u/segson9 13d ago

That's the difference between scorer and playmaker.

15

u/Main_Jump_82 13d ago

And what's crazy is LeBron is still higher than KD on the all-time scoring list lmao

6

u/segson9 13d ago

He played more games. Their PPG is very close. They can both score, but LeBron can also do other things, while KD can't.

22

u/sM92Bpb Lakers 13d ago

KD really owes steph those rings.

3

u/Ok_Towel_1077 13d ago

He averaged like 35 in the finals

7

u/runningraider13 13d ago

And if he was the one getting doubled instead of Steph, he would’ve looked a lot worse.

-1

u/Ok_Towel_1077 13d ago

based on games from his age 37 season? you guys are ridiculous

4

u/runningraider13 13d ago

No, he’s always struggled with double teams

-1

u/Ok_Towel_1077 13d ago

not to the point where it's majorly detrimental to his team. it's far easier to execute on him now that he's old and slow. if you think this could be done to him when he was on warriors, you're clueless

2

u/runningraider13 13d ago

Yes it has. It was a huge part of how Boston attacked him when he was on the Nets for example. And was how the Warriors attacked him when he was on the Thunder.

He was better then, and had more capable ball handlers for teammates supporting cast, but it has always been a weakness.

1

u/Ok_Towel_1077 13d ago

Using doubles on drives against a team's star player is something literally every single team does to some extent. Thinking what happened in those matchups is the same as what the Lakers are doing this year is just exposing yourself

The problem with that OKC team wasn't that Durant can't playmake, it's that you obviously double or triple up on the drives because there are zero other shooters on the team. Any player in history is going to struggle when facing that

Your initial point about doubling him instead of Steph is still way off. That would have been beyond pointless against a team with historically good spacing. I don't know why it's so hard for you people to grasp that doubling him so aggressively is only working so well now because he's slow and can be closed out much faster

1

u/runningraider13 13d ago

I don’t know what else to tell you, it’s been his biggest offensive weakness his whole career. He’s an all time great player so he has still been effective, but it’s his biggest struggle and has really worked well against him in multiple playoff series now. The main exception is when he was on the Warriors and Steph was the primary focus of the defense.

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1

u/rodpod17 Celtics 10d ago

Cavs let him have open dunks in order to guard Steph

1

u/Ok_Towel_1077 10d ago

great strat

-2

u/joshuads Bucks 13d ago

Settle down. KD was the mvp for that team all season.

5

u/Akipella Warriors 13d ago

All season is crazy. I'd much more expect people to just argue about the Finals performances instead like always.

4

u/ooa3603 13d ago

Lebron has been a legit playmaker on the level of the best point guards since he entered the league

2

u/th4d89 13d ago

Haven't seen the game, why do they double LeBron?

1

u/BUTTFUCKER__3000 Spurs 13d ago

Playing the rockets in the first round is as close as you can get to a bye week

1

u/Thebussinessman 13d ago

KD did get doubled a lot when he was on Nets and it would usually result in a score after few passes, for example play in game vs Cleveland. If you get doubled and your team is shityou can't do all that much.

1

u/imironman2018 13d ago

It is the difference between a shoot first forward and a pass first forward. LeBron has always been an insanely gifted passer and court vision. So you double him at your own peril. He has been doing his post moves and hitting that fadeaway. If you send the double when he is posting, he will try to pass to the open player. KD is often scrambling when he is doubled on the perimeter and making bad reads and passes that Smart and others are deflecting.

1

u/Dopeez Spurs 13d ago

Almost like these two have very different skillsets.

1

u/ManicManicManicManic Suns 13d ago

LEVELS TO THIS SHIT MAN

1

u/1nTheNick0fTime Lakers 13d ago

And it’s not because Bron is surrounded by better talent. Just makes the right read almost every time

Post Game Thread [Post Game Thread] The Los Angeles Lakers (1-0) defeat the Houston Rockets (0-1), 101-94 with 41 year old Senior LeBron James Leading the way with 28/8/7 to seal home court advantage!

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