Houston Chronicle

‘Worst game’ leaves team below .500

Mistakes, effort cited as factors in loss to Lakers

- Jonathan Feigen

LOS ANGELES — The Rockets have lost on the road. They have done nothing but lose on the road. They have lost excruciati­ngly close games. They have lost a couple when fatigued or shorthande­d or both.

This was worse.

They were pushed around. They were shut down for a game-changing stretch. They were sent home with an 0-8 road record, run off the floor by the Lakers 107-97 on Saturday night with a performanc­e that Rockets coach Ime Udoka described as the worst of the season.

“Probably our worst overall game as far as effort and attention to detail, and that’s what we haven’t done this year: play with the proper effort or physicalit­y,” Udoka said.

“Since we achieved some success, it looks like it’s gone to some people’s heads, and we have to do what we did to get us there.”

The difference between the Rockets’ home wins and road woes has never been more striking. They fell to 8-9, below .500 for the first time in a month, or since they were 2-3 before blowing out the Lakers in the sixth game of the season.

They also were beaten the way they had won three consecutiv­e benchclear­ing routs back then. The Lakers hit them with a seven-minute first-half surge during which the Rockets were shut down and frustrated and the Lakers began celebratin­g early.

“Missed assignment­s, turnovers,” Udoka said. “We had a great first quarter. Obviously, for a team (to score) 35 in that (second) quarter — we didn’t score, but it was still a three-point game, five-point game. And then multiple turnovers and missed assignment­s on defense.

“Didn’t love our physicalit­y, especially in that quarter.”

The Rockets made one of 10 shots and committed four turnovers in the final seven minutes of the first half as the Lakers outscored them 26-8.

“A lot of just little mistakes led to transition, led to open 3-pointers,” Rockets forward Tari Eason said. “That’s not being locked in on defense, silly turnovers. Those things will hurt you with a good team, especially at home.”

The run was capped by a spectacula­r LeBron James move to finish between Eason and Jeff Green. James started with a spin around Eason, the sort of move he will be able to do five years after he retires, or on his 55th birthday, assuming those are not the same.

Once in the air, James went from routine to spectacula­r, effective to incredible with an aerial 360, putting in his layup and then reveling in the ovation that came from the amazed crowd at Crypto.com Arena.

“He’s one of the alltime greats. He makes great plays,” Green said.

“That’s LeBron,” Eason said of the move that began with a spin around him in the post. “It’s a tough move. That’s a tough move by anybody. Just got to tip your hat at the end of the day.”

The Rockets’ issue was not that James was sensationa­l. He scored just 16 points, 21 fewer than his season high set in the previous meeting.

Beginning with that dominant second-quarter run, the Lakers were tougher. Their defense shut down Houston in a game the Rockets began by making seven of their first nine shots. Los Angeles swarmed inside, with the Rockets making just 17 of 43 shots in the paint.

“They got the best of us,” Green said. “They brought the aggressive nature to us. They had us on our heels, and we couldn’t respond.”

By the end of the third quarter and start of the fourth, beginning with the Rockets within 10, the Lakers twice got the rebound of their own missed free throw to have consecutiv­e four-point possession­s and push the lead to 18 in a span of 28 seconds.

“To kind of get punked by a team that’s not known for physicalit­y or punking people is not a good sign,” Udoka said.

Udoka was not around to see the end of the game. With 8:35 left, he and James exchanged words. Official J.T. Orr gave both technical fouls. It was Udoka’s second, earning an ejection, and his fifth of the season, the most for any coach.

“We had some conversati­on, and they didn’t like what they heard, the refs,” Udoka said. “Me and the player.”

That came after another exchange that saw the Lakers’ Cam Reddish earn a technical after fouling Eason. Reddish appeared to bump into Eason as Eason went to the line, incensing Eason as Alperen ށengün, Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green took turns trying to calm him.

“I was about to shoot a free throw,” Eason said. “He’s got the whole court there, and he just kind of walked into me, said something I didn’t like. I just wanted him to stand on it. That’s all.

“You know, I’m a basketball player, above anything else, not a tough guy or anything like that. That’s all I’ve got to say.”

The Rockets were down 16 at the time. The damage was done much earlier.

“It was like a whirlwind there,” VanVleet said. “I do feel like they did a good job of getting the ball in the paint, getting to the rim, and getting to the free-throw line, slowing the game down for us. Offensivel­y, I felt we got some good looks that we missed and kind of lost our juice a little bit.

“Kind of sapped our energy. Very uncharacte­ristic for us. Definitely not proud of our competitiv­e spirit.”

For all the previous road losses, the Rockets never had to admit that.

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