Second quarter swings game
LOS ANGELES — The Rockets’ road woes reached the point on Saturday that they have added variety.
This was not a last-second loss and was certain not to get to that point after a second-quarter collapse that ended any mystery. This was not from fatigue in the second half of a backto-back. The Rockets had two off days since losing in Denver.
The Lakers on Saturday sent the Rockets to 0-8 on the road, rolling to a 19point lead and finishing a 107-97 win with the benches cleared as a dominant seven-minute surge to close the first half seemed to rattle the Rockets more than they had been all season.
Even when they stayed in the game, trailing by 13 in the fourth quarter, the Rockets were out of sync and sloppy, seeming frustrated by everything from the officials to their own inability to finish inside.
By the fourth quarter, the Rockets seemed to have had enough. The Lakers’ Cam Reddish picked up a technical foul, earning Tari Eason’s ire. Alperen Şengün, Jalen Green and Fred VanVleet took turns trying to calm Eason before he was hit with a technical foul and Ime Udoka chimed in.
But while VanVleet took the free throw, Udoka and LeBron James were hit with double technicals, Udoka’s second. That earned him an ejection with 8:35 left and the league lead in technical fouls for a coach with five.
The free throws brought the Rockets to within 13, but they missed their next six shots — five by Şengün — as the Lakers went up by a safe 17.
VanVleet led the Rockets with 22 points. Şengün had 21 points, with 14 rebounds, but made 8-of-25 shots. Green went 1-of-9 after the first quarter.
Anthony Davis had 27 points with 14 rebounds. James had 16.
Maybe James knew
Looking forward to the return of many of the Lakers’ regulars, James said this week that the Lakers are one of the best defensive teams in the NBA.
This seemed curious with the Lakers going 3-3 in their past six games, getting blown out in all three losses, and with a defense that is ranked 13th in the NBA. Still, Reddish and Jarred Vanderbilt were coming back from injuries. James seemed pretty happy about that.
“Man, we already one of the best defensive teams in the league, but when you add that length, you add that anticipation and guys, you know Cam is one of the league leaders in deflections. Vando, historically throughout his career, has been one of the league leaders in deflections,” James said. “So, we’re able to get some of those pieces back, it’s just going to just heighten what we already do defensively.”
That was an interesting, but not necessarily convincing argument.
That came on Saturday.
The Rockets made 7-of-9 shots to start the game, finding little resistance. But when the Lakers turned up the defense in the second quarter, they shut down the Rockets and dominated the game.
The Rockets led by four with seven minutes left in the half. They made 1-of-10 shots with four turnovers the rest of the way.
That ignited the Lakers’ run. The Lakers outscored the Rockets 26-6 to close the half, leading by as many as 18 points, and 60-44 at halftime.
It’s good to be King
Lakers fans appropriately treat James moments as something to celebrate. As the banners in the rafters and the statues outside demonstrate, they have had plenty of practice venerating the greats.
James, however, gave them a moment few could match. He started with a spin move past Eason, a pretty typical back-to-the-basket move.
Once in the air, however, he did something special. With Jeff Green closing to help, James did an airborne 360, putting in his layup with the sort of move that would be incredible at 28. At 38, it was somewhere between incredible and inexplicable. The Crypto.com Arena crowd rose to roar its approval, stopped to watch the replay and then roared again.
Road woes, Part VIII
The Rockets are winless on the road for many reasons, foremost because they lost games that came down to the final seconds.
Role players tend to shoot better at home, and the Rockets have seen that from opponents. The Rockets have also had a strange pattern of playing teams missing key players in Houston and getting players back from injuries when the Rockets have been on the road.
The start of Saturday’s game also showed another less conspicuous issue.
The Rockets started extremely well. They made 7 of their first 9 shots. Davis, who made 11-of-15 shots in the previous meeting, missed his first six attempts.
The Rockets led by nine midway through the first quarter. By the end of the quarter, the Rockets had made 59.1% of their shots; the Lakers 39.1%. But the quarter ended with the Lakers just down five.
At home, when the Rockets have had good runs, they have opened sizable cushions. Those runs are not often in the first quarter, but they do come at some point in most games.
On the road, when opponents hit back, the Rockets’ leads shrink. The heavy lifting is wasted.