The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Houston Rockets on Sunday night. Check out our recap and highlights of the loss.
The tough times continued for the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night. The Lakers hosted the Houston Rockets for the first of their four meetings and things did not go well. The Lakers were blown out, as the Rockets had their way en route to a 118-95 victory.
The Lakers struggled on both ends of the court tonight. Offensively they were never able to get into a rhythm. Los Angeles made only 38.1 percent of their shots and 32.1 percent of their 3-point attempts.
The leading scorer for the Lakers tonight was Kyle Kuzma. Kuzma scored 22 points off the bench, which is the eighth time already this season he has scored at least 20 points. Surprisingly, Kuzma was the only player to provide much production off the bench.
The Lakers bench has been outstanding all season but they were off their game Sunday. Jordan Clarkson scored five points, only the fourth time all season he failed to score in double-figures. Julius Randle only received 16 minutes, scoring five points with five rebounds and one steal.
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Brandon Ingram had a good game, continuing to play well in his second season. Ingram scored 18 points to lead the starters. He also added nine rebounds, five assists and one steal to round out his stat line. Brook Lopez, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Larry Nance Jr. all scored in double-figures as well.
Lonzo Ball was quiet as he scored only two points. He didn’t add much else, grabbing only one rebound with three assists.
For as much as the Lakers struggled offensively, they struggled almost as much defensively. Houston’s high powered offense was on full display. After knocking off the rust in a 27-point first quarter, the Rockets exploded for 91 points the final three quarters.
The Rockets weren’t as free-firing from deep tonight, as usual, making 14-of-37 from 3-point land, but they dominated inside the arc. Houston finished the night shooting 50.6 percent.
Houston was led by the trio of James Harden, Chris Paul and Eric Gordon. Harden scored 36 points with nine assists and four rebounds. Paul scored 21 with six assists and four rebounds. Gordon scored 18 points in his first 11 minutes and finished the game with 22 and an absurd +37 plus/minus ratio.
Highlights
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/937533656280612864
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/937521675779817473
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/937515729015914496
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/937513944628961280
Next: Lakers: 5 Positives From First Quarter Of Season
The Lakers losing streak now sits at five games after the defeat tonight. They will look to snap that streak in their next game on Thursday against the Philadelphia 76ers.