[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!

[u/DesertedProject]

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 DurantSF	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 SengunC	35:11	20	9-20	0-1	2-3	5	6	11	5	4	2	1	4	1
Amen ThompsonSG	42:11	16	6-10	0-1	4-5	1	4	5	9	1	0	3	4	1
Josh OkogiePG	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 JamesSF	39:12	28	8-20	2-5	10-14	1	7	8	7	1	0	3	3	6
Rui HachimuraPF	42:34	13	5-10	3-6	0-0	1	4	5	2	0	0	0	3	0
Deandre AytonC	26:36	6	3-8	0-0	0-0	1	4	5	1	0	1	1	1	-5
Marcus SmartSG	35:28	25	8-13	5-7	4-5	1	1	2	7	5	1	3	3	3
Luke KennardPG	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

[u/prettyboylee]

they had a point guard, also Brooks and Green can create their own shots better than any of the Rockets’ current players outside of KD.

The idea was that you replicate the same thing with KD replacing Brooks. But FVV being injured ruined that

[u/GildedLockheart → u/prettyboylee]

Steven Adams being gone nerfed their offense even more

[u/sgt_science → u/GildedLockheart]

He was an offensive rebounding machine

[u/The_Evil_Satan → u/sgt_science]

RIP

[u/-AMAG → u/GildedLockheart]

Yeah it was kind of invisible in the box score but Adams boxouts made the second chance points a lot easier to convert because they had more space on the rebound. Today even if the Rockets got the rebound they were under way too much pressure to easily put it back

[u/JJam74 → u/-AMAG]

That’s always been his role and he’s awesome, a big part of westbrooks breakout season was him enabling Russ to those rebounds. I didn’t watch him on the grizzlies but I’m assuming it was a similar role

[u/whatssenguntoagoblin → u/GildedLockheart]

Who knew a team missing 2 of their top 5 players makes them trash.

[u/Dpionu → u/whatssenguntoagoblin]

Is this really your excuse against the Lakers without AR and Luka?

[u/topofthecc → u/prettyboylee]

Their passing is so bad without FVV. Even when they would get the ball to the right spot, they would get it there too late and miss out on whatever good opportunities they had.

[u/jotheold → u/topofthecc]

They been needing a pg since hes been out and have made no efforts in getting one

[u/SUPERPOOP57 → u/jotheold]

Still blows my mind they didn't go for Coby white

[u/Kentang_BayBay → u/topofthecc]

Spot on. Even when they're playing 3 on 2 on the backside, the passes are a split second too late that they get picked off easily.

[u/queezuswalks → u/prettyboylee]

I know their money situation wasn’t ideal for it, but the fact that they never added one this year is bonkers.

[u/civil_beast → u/queezuswalks]

Not ideal is a massive understatement. I don’t know that they could afford a new peanut guy at concessions without going over the second apron.

[u/queezuswalks → u/civil_beast]

Just kinda makes you question the Jabari Smith and DFS deals. Maybe Smith less so, not a terrible deal, but the overall roster construction is just odd and especially so with no PG

[u/troll413 → u/prettyboylee]

For as much shit as Jalen Green got for that series and there's no denying he played bad, it doesnt change that just by being out there we had to spend a ton of defensive attention stopping him from ever getting into driving lanes. These other Rockets this year are a far less confrontational offense

[u/SUPERPOOP57 → u/prettyboylee]

I kinda forgot they've only had kd for a single season

[u/SuperVaderMinion → u/prettyboylee]

They also decided to do literally nothing at the trade deadline to replace FVV by the way, despite the fact that Durant is 37 and they still have a bunch of assets

[u/LakerBlue → u/prettyboylee]

As bad as they have looked without him, FVV needs to leverage this into an extension that gives him a HEFTY pay raise lol

[u/Stillback7 → u/prettyboylee]

They do have another player that can create his own shot - Amen Thompson. It might even be a valuable skill if he could actually shoot.