Los Angeles Lakers: 5 Lessons from win against Houston Rockets

HOUSTON, TX - JANUARY 18 : Kentavious Caldwell-Pope #1 of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots the ball against the Houston Rockets on January 18, 2020 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - JANUARY 18 : Kentavious Caldwell-Pope #1 of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots the ball against the Houston Rockets on January 18, 2020 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images)
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Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Lakers opened up the NBA primetime schedule against the Houston Rockets on ABC. Not only did the Lakers beat down the Rockets, they showed the possible blueprint to make it to the NBA Finals. 

The Los Angeles Lakers fanbase (The real ones!) might be right. The media does tend  to downplay the success of the team while claiming the sky is falling if they lose. Hopefully the credibility of the Lake Show Life Lessons series shows that Lake Show Life is not among that group. Check the receipts folks, the staff knew.

When the Lakers lost their first game to the Orlando Magic, snapping a nine-game winning streak that lasted from the weekend after Christmas through the middle of January, you would have thought this team was on a nine game LOSING streak. Never mind that it was a one point loss. Never mind that the Magic was in an unconscious zone.

But to listen to Seth Greenberg on ESPN’s Get Up the next morning, you would think that the roster besides Anthony Davis and LeBron James were a bunch of tomato cans that was reminiscent of last year. A must listen here.

No disrespect to Greenberg or ESPN, but this might go down as one of the worst takes of the year. The total body of work of the team this season was totally ignored. He failed to mention these important things.

  1. The Los Angeles Lakers have been successful with Anthony Davis out the lineup. They were 3-0 before the loss to the Magic.
  2. The team rolled into Oklahoma City and destroyed a hot Thunder team WITHOUT AD and LeBron. 
  3. They own the tiebreakers over the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio, OKC and Miami while leading the Utah Jazz. These are teams that will contend for the playoffs. Trust us there are more. 
  4. The Lakers have four separate winning streaks over seven games. No other team in the NBA owns more than one. 

Well Lake Show Life has a hot take for the NBA. Watch our smoke.

The Los Angeles Lakers, barring any serious injuries to key players to the roster for the rest of the year will be in the Western Conference Finals. Guaranteed. Anyone that watched the game against the Houston Rockets will probably agree and be right.

The Los Angeles Lakers came out sluggish against the Houston Rockets making numerous defensive mistakes to get the Rockets stars, James Harden and Russell Westbrook off to good starts early. But adjustments made in the second half ended up with a 124-115 to start their five game long Grammy road trip in a dominant fashion.

This game showed something that was undeniable to the Houston Rockets, the sports media and the rest of the NBA. The Los Angeles Lakers have officially replaced the Golden State Warriors as the must see experience of the NBA season. Want to see some proof?

The Los Angeles Lakers were the road team against Houston, who happens to have two former MVPs on their roster in James Harden and Russell Westbrook. They weren’t on the free throw line when the MVP chants rang out.

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1218745411344719872

This win keeps the Lakers riding high as the number one seed in the Western Conference with a 34-8 record.  It is highly unlikely that LeBron James will get the same treatment on Monday. The team travel to play their notorious rival, the Boston Celtics. Anthony Davis did some working out before the game so there is a chance that he could be back for MLK Day matchup on TNT. Even if he doesn’t, the impending doom of AD’s effect on the Los Angeles Lakers might be highly exaggerated.

Lake Show Lessons is next and everyone will see the road map to the Western Conference Finals.