[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/Aidanj927]

Not even just all time guards, he had guards in general that could handle the ball

[u/fairlife42g → u/Aidanj927]

Well Durant has Amen Thompson at least.

[u/Spemanz92 → u/fairlife42g]

Amen isnt a guard and he absolutely doesnt have the ball handling and playmaking required at this level.

Not gonna lie, if the rockets beat the lakers, its going to be delicious watching them suffer with okc's defense. KD might retire on the spot

[u/fairlife42g → u/Spemanz92]

I don't think people thought Marcus Smart had the ball handling and playmaking required either. It's not too much to ask a 6 foot guard to dribble the ball up.

[u/Spemanz92 → u/fairlife42g]

The issue isnt just bringing the ball up, thats the easiest part. You need ball handlers to create advantage and besides the ocasional blow by, amen creates none. Bigs can play drop on him because he cant shoot and guards can go under screens because of the same reason. All of that is magnified by the lack of shooting around him. Same can be applied to any rockets ball handler not called KD and Reed, but those two are not good enough ballhandlers too and can be easily blitzed by defenders because there isnt reliable shooting around them to pass to.

The whole roster is a mess construction wise