Los Angeles Lakers “Activates” in the second half, beat Houston

The Houston Rockets can’t stop Brandon Ingram if he is engaged in the game!

If some of the Los Angeles Lakers faithful stopped complaining about Brandon Ingram’s shortcomings and paid attention to what he brings to the table, they would realize the Lakers will not get to the playoffs without him.

Luckily Luke Walton realizes that and put the ball in his hands early to get him engaged.

Boy did it pay off big time!

Brandon Ingram smoked the Houston Rockets for 27 points and 13 rebounds while getting to the free throw line and giving the Rockets the “Harden” treatment. Ingram went to the line a team-high 14 times in the game and knocked down 11. To put this in perspective, Ingram missed his first two free throws then went on a crazy run knocking down 11-of-12.

He didn’t disappear in crunch time either. Ingram completed a huge 3-point play to tie the game at 97 with five minutes in the ball game which led to the Lakers first lead since the first quarter.

A lot is said about Lonzo Ball and how badly the Lakers need him defensively. Ingram’s importance can’t be understated either. With all of the defensive switches the Lakers employ, his length is an important asset to make this work.

Speaking of length, you can’t make shots like these without it.

Going forward, a lot of analysts are going to be watching the body language of the Lakers team. Let’s not go too deep in analyzing Ingram’s body language.

Why? Because it rarely changes. Notice how he runs back down the court after hitting one of the shots of the year. Runs back as if he does it all of the time.

Plus, to all the Lakers fans talking about Ingram needing to show emotion, remember the last time he showed emotion? 

He was suspended for four games!

Brandon Ingram has shown so much maturity since the incident early in the season, he should be extremely proud. Instead of falling for the same mistake twice and getting caught up in his emotions, it was Chris Paul who lost it, again.