Lakers vs Rockets Recap: Houston, We Have a Problem

Turnovers and lack of defense proved to be the Lakers’ Achilles heel as they got blown out by the Houston Rockets 135-94 on Wednesday night

Due to the plethora of injuries the Lakers have faced this season, a reluctant Luke Walton decided to break up the bench unit once again, starting Marcelo Huertas, Jordan Clarkson, Luol Deng, Julius Randle, and Timofey Mozgov.

LA got off to a dismal start in the first quarter, looking very sloppy, ending the quarter with 9 turnovers! The turnovers only made things even easier for the offensive juggernaut that is James Harden and the Rockets who finished the first quarter up 43 to 27.

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Offense wasn’t the problem for Los Angeles. They were able to shoot over 50 percent in the first quarter but when you’re playing bad defense and giving up easy offense through turnovers, the Rockets can run up the score, and that’s just what they did.

The second quarter was more competitive for a couple reasons, the first being that they cut down on turnovers… thankfully, they only committed four compared to the nine in the first.

Throughout the period, the Lakers stayed within striking distance, even cutting the deficit to seven at one point. Unfortunately, this is as close as it would get as the Rockets went on to extend the lead back out to 15 before the half ended though Lou Williams was able to cut it 12 with a miraculous 3/4th court heave.

Things really fell apart for the Purple and Gold in the third quarter as everything that could go wrong did. For some reason the ball kept ending up in Mozgov’s hand for contested mid range jumpers, which isn’t great offense.

The Rockets ended the third with106 points which is a pretty good indicator that there is a lack of defense being played. The game got more out of hand in the fourth where the Rockets took advantage of the depleted Lakers squad.

Despite the blowout, LA did have some good individual performances from both Randle and Williams. Williams had a team high 24 points while Randle recorded a double-double with 21 points and 10 boards.

What went wrong?

For starters, as we all know the Lakers are missing their starting backcourt and any team that has lost two key starters is bound to struggle.

However, the main reasons for the loss was the lack of defense paired with how they couldn’t take care of the basketball.

Next: LA D-Fenders Down the Vipers For the Third Time This Season

The Lakers will look to end their now four game losing streak against the Phoenix Suns on Friday.