Lake Show Life
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Los Angeles Lakers lose opening game to Houston Rockets, 5 Lessons

Ronald Agers|
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 04: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Houston Rockets goes for the rebound against the Los Angeles Lakers during the first quarter in Game One of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2020 NBA Playoffs at AdventHealth Arena at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on September 04, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. 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. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 04: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Houston Rockets goes for the rebound against the Los Angeles Lakers during the first quarter in Game One of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2020 NBA Playoffs at AdventHealth Arena at the ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on September 04, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. 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. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
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Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

LeBron James had highlights but disappeared when the street lights came on!

Most NBA pundits assumed that the superstars knew they would have to dominate their match-ups to have championship aspirations. But there’s a phrase out there connected to assumptions.

One of the superstars in LeBron James started out like he wanted to make a statement. This dunk on Russell Westbrook was so nasty, the writer didn’t want to call Russ’ mama, he wanted to call his own!

  • After running the lanes hard, he received a pocket pass from Alex Caruso and jumped so high to dunk on Westbrook there was a petition to put his silhouette on Houston uniforms next year. 
  • No, it wasn’t a charge even though Russ was shoved back to the backboard support.
  • JaVale McGee’s reaction? Pretty much anyone else that saw the play!

For two and a half quarters, this looked like the LeBron James that played in Miami. Just look at him pick on Russell Westbrook again!

  • Lake Show Life keeps warning Lakers opponents that you have to dunk the basketball against this bunch. Layups…We’ve heard the scoop and it’s not the move troop. Sadly, Russ hasn’t read our material yet.
  • Russell Westbrook starts a 2-on-1 fast break with LeBron in pursuit. There’s not many players alive that can catch Russ on a fastbreak. LeBron catches him and pins his lay-up to the backboard with two hands.
  • Then he starts his own fast break back the other way and sends Robert Covington to the same area as Westbrook (Breaking News to Lake Show Life…LeBron James is a strong dude!) drawing the foul!

Exciting highlights huh? Don’t mean much in a blowout. In the first half, admittedly he didn’t get much help from his teammates. Don’t worry, he evened things up quite nicely because he didn’t help his teammates much in the 4th quarter.

LeBron finished with 20 points (7-15 shooting 2-7 from distance!), 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 blocks. The staff could be wrong, but James scored the same amount of points in the last frame as the staff did putting this together with the Rockets running away with a 16-3 run.

Lake Show Life and LeBron James fans have a love/hate relationship. Why? Because we hold LeBron to the same standard that the media exults him to. Highlights are not enough no matter how good they look. He did not dominate. He was not one of the top two players on the floor.

The Rockets will take these numbers for the rest of the series. The Los Angeles Lakers can’t afford them.

Lesson two was given out a couple of weeks ago by David Grubb about Anthony Davis. He warned Lakers fans that there would days like this. Read on to see what Grubb said and what he meant!

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