Los Angeles Lakers: Goodbye Rockets, bring on L.A. Clippers! 3 Lessons

The Los Angeles Lakers took care of the Houston Rockets in five games

The Los Angeles Lakers punched their ticket to the Western Conference Finals by dismissing the Houston Rockets in Game 5. The Lakers jumped on them early and coasted the rest of the way. Lake Show Life starts the party with Lake Show Life Lessons! The Los Angeles Lakers post-game report with video analysis!

The Los Angeles Lakers are going back to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 10 years. We are going to say it again. The Los Angeles Lakers are going back to the Western Conference Finals and this is not a ice cream dream.

It’s not a practice drill nor one of those nightmares watching players like Carlos Boozer, Jeremy Lin, Nick Young and Robert Sacre surround Kobe Bryant in blowouts under Byron Scott’s leadership.

Holy Ryan Kelly, Batman! The Los Angeles Lakers are one series away from the NBA Finals!

Usually this Lake Show Life post-game series is about providing information and analysis about the games and where improvement is needed. Lakers Nation, really what is there to really learn. The staff basically canceled “Micro Ball” in Game 4. We plainly stated that unless the Houston Rockets grow six inches in 48 hours there was no chance of the series being extended.

So we here at Lake Show Life are going to set a party theme with music you can listen to while reading the information. It’s a party, right?

Lake Show Life presents: The Lake Show Life Party Jam with music to set the theme of the topics we talk about.

First cut: I love L.A.! by Randy Newman  

The Los Angeles Lakers smoked the Houston Rockets like a pack of Kools, running off to a 119-96 beatdown. They now own an 8-2 in the playoffs while waiting for their opponent from the Clippers/Nuggets series. Let’s be clear here, the Lakers played “Debo” ball and took Russell Westbrook chain on the way off the floor (Man, more on that later!).

• The Los Angeles Lakers ran out to a 33-11 lead in the first quarter.
• The team set an all-time playoff record knocking down 19 shots from the land of the extra point!
• Anthony Davis did not take one shot until about 4 minutes left in the second quarter.
• All five starters scored in double figures. This is how dominant a performance this was. Anthony Davis was the only starter that shot less than 50% and he shot 4-9!
• The only reason the staff stuck around for the whole game was to see if any extracurricular activity would go down. (More on that later!) 

The game was over here, please don’t let Harden’s 30 points fool you. He checked out of the game early and this play exposed him.

• LeBron James takes off coast to coast hitting Russell Westbrook with a behind the back dribble.
• James Harden takes us back to 2014 with his bullfighting “Olay!” defensive technique!
• LeBron dunks on his head for a 13-2 lead at that point. Game over!!!!

This game was all about the Lakers’ outstanding shooting from the field and the 3 point line. The Lakers shot an absurd 19-37 from distance for 51.4%. They shot 52.4% from the field overall. Even free throws weren’t a problem. They shot 75.9% from the line and it would have been higher if Dwight Howard hadn’t missed three of them late.

The Los Angeles Lakers broke the mystique of James Harden. His legacy will take a downturn after this series. The entire NBA got a blueprint of how to contain him without allowing him to explode on big nights.

If you send double teams from different angles, don’t reach and contest his 3 point shots without fouling, he will break. He scored 30 points on 12-20 shooting, but got to the free-throw line 4 times. Plus you pretty much saw his defensive prowess in the game courtesy of LeBron James.

His teammates? If you want an analysis of their play, just close your eyes real tight. What you see  is what they pretty much did. To quote Randy Newman…I love L.A.!

To the new Los Angeles Lakers fans that are checking us out for the first time, welcome to Lake Show Life Lessons. An extended post-game report with video analysis that has covered the second round so far.

• Los Angeles Lakers lose opening game to Houston Rockets, 5 Lessons!
• Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron and AD stave off Rockets surge, 5 Lessons!
• Los Angeles Lakers: LeBron and Rajon Rondo beat Houston, 5 Lessons!
• Los Angeles Lakers: Houston Rockets “Micro Ball” is dead! 5 Lessons!

Usually, over the next several pages we provide highlights of certain players and coaches. Afterward, the comment section is loaded with knowledgeable fans adding their basketball knowledge.

Outside of the Houston Rockets not growing, there’s nothing to analyze. We changed the theme to a party jam atmosphere. While you read, click on the song related to the subject. We usually start with the stars.

Which one? Let’s get to Lesson One and find out!

LeBron James, for the next 24 hours, is the best player in the world! LeBron haters, just get over it!

Music selection: Down with the King…Run DMC.

Well after a one-season hiatus from the playoffs, it seems that everybody wants to be down with the King. King James that is. He called this his revenge season and the Lake Show Life staff collectively rolled our eyes and said, “Okay, we’ll see”.

• LeBron James: 4 Reasons why his “Revenge Season” had better work!

This website has plenty of documented concerns about his behavior last year from his play, to leadership, his reported undermining of Luke Walton’s play calls and the constant drama of a broken locker room.

This year has been a complete turnaround. James has resurrected his career from a guy on the decline to being back in “The Best in The World” conversations. Right now he’s the Los Angeles Lakers best player on the roster and that includes Anthony Davis.

What LeBron James did in this series in a dismantling of Rockets is compared to what he did to the Toronto Raptors in his days in Cleveland. This might have been worse. This was not a five-game gentleman’s sweep like the Blazers series. This was a destruction of careers and a franchise.

LeBron James filled up the box score with 29 points, 11 rebounds (2 offensive!) , 7 assists, 2 steals and a block. His teams are now 14-0 when up 3-1 in a series. Insert Golden State Warriors jokes and stories in the comment section below.

LeBron set the tone by attacking the basket early that got the Lakers’ bench in a frenzy. LeBron actually got to finish his night early, wrapping things up with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

Taking a look at the box scores, it would look as if Anthony Davis did not have a good game. He didn’t have to. He literally didn’t have to shoot because LeBron was going crazy along with the role players.

Keep reading and see which players made the list and why long time reader McKinley Webb will fill up the comment section gloating!

If the role players shoot like this, the Los Angeles Lakers will make the NBA Finals!

Music selection: It’s a family affair…Sly and the Family Stone!

The Los Angeles Lakers set a franchise record knocking down 19 shots from the land of the extra point. That’s not the real story. The role players were responsible for 16 of them. ESPN announcer Jeff Van Gundy said it best. If the role players are shooting like this, the Lakers are unbeatable.

He’s not lying. In this highlight package here, just look at some of the players that were dropping shots out of the sky. If the Rockets looked at AD or LeBron too long, the role players made them pay.

Danny Green:

To the readers new to this website, there is an ongoing backstory going on with Danny Green. Much like most of Lakers Nation, Lake Show Life has been critical of Green’s overall play for weeks. There is ONE reader that has stood by him. McKinley Webb. He is somewhere reading this sipping a cool Mai-Tai’ based on Danny Green’s best two-way performance since the plane landed in Orlando.

Green put on a shooting display that justified his $14 million dollar contract, scoring 14 points on the strength of four 3 point shots in six attempts. He also found time to collect 4 rebounds and a assist. He had a team-high plus/minus of +35! Plus he helped defend James Harden 94 feet. Happy now Kinfolk? 

Markieff Morris:

Frank Vogel has a decision to make. Will he keep Markieff Morris in the starting lineup in the next series? He’s balling folks and his long-range shooting will cause Ivica Zubac or Nikola Jokic trouble. 

Morris was the X-factor turning the entire series around being inserted into the starting lineup. He kept right on killing the Rockets dropping 16 points,(He shot a perfect 4-4 shooting from deep!) along with toughness that helped break Houston’s spirit. Add 3 rebounds and 3 assists, most would think that is a productive 24 minutes of work.

Kyle Kuzma:

Kuzma has made the transition from scorer that just chucks up shots (You know, what Harden and Westbrook will be called next year!) to a player that knows how to play basketball. Kuz efficiently frustrated the Rockets defense with 17 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists off the bench. When he realized how to use cuts to hurt the Rockets, he got calmer and his confidence is skyrocketing. He has that “Flintstone” swagger that Flint Michigan ballplayers have.

Other players that played well:

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope shot very well scoring 10 points on 4-5 shooting (2-3 from distance!) while rotating defending James Harden. Talen Horton-Tucker? That rookie can play. Period. If he’s traded, it had better be a deal for Giannis Antetokounmpo. He scored 10 points (4-7 shooting!) in 10 minutes. This dude will be a walking bucket in a few years. 

How about Rajon Rondo? Well he was the reason why the staff hung around. Read on. This is going to be good!

The Los Angeles Lakers might have started Russell Westbrook’s journeyman career!

Music selection: Close to you…The Carpenters!

The Los Angeles Lakers had pretty much eliminated all belief from the Rockets in Game 4, but the final game did have enough intrigue to watch. Russell Westbrook was targeted by LeBron and Rajon Rondo at the end of the previous game with an off the backboard alley-oop dunk.

Since Game 2, the Los Angeles Lakers made it a point to embarrass Russell Westbrook and bait him into one on one matchups. The more the Lakers led by LeBron and AD antagonized him, the more he got taken out of his game and the Houston offense went with him.

By the time the Lakers had built up a 30 point lead in the fourth quarter, Russell Westbrook lost his head.

There was a brewing situation between Russ and Rondo. LeBron smartly told Rondo to switch. To all the kids growing up, don’t scream “You better double me!” down 29 points. Even LeBron was laughing at him.

When you stop laughing or wondering how someone can go 4-13 for 10 points in an elimination game, it’s gets better.

Russell Westbrook seemingly showed more toughness (Or tried!) to the Lakers’ family section when he had words with Rajon Rondo’s brother. Rajon’s brother was  thrown out for arguing with him from the sidelines (Against bubble rules!). Rajon’s brother is the personal barber to the NBA players. Guess Russ won’t be leaving a tip.

According to Marc Spears of The Undefeated.

"Lakers guard Rajon Rondo says his brother, William, called Russell Westbrook “trash” and nothing more and gave him the “Damian Lillard” wave when the Rockets star asked what he said. Rondo said his bother didn’t say anything more and he is hopeful there will be no discipline."

Russell Westbrook discussed the incident after the game. 

The Los Angeles Lakers has made history. When can anyone remember a franchise totally embarrass not only it’s opponent, but emasculate their two former MVPs in the same series? The Lakers changed basketball much like the Golden State Warriors did five years ago. They have effectively ended any doubt that “Micro Ball” has any chance in the NBA.

Plus, the Houston Rockets era is closed.

• Russell Westbrook is owed nearly $130 million over the next three years. Look for a trade.
• Mike D’Antoni will be fired, the collapse of the last two games can’t be overlooked.
• Daryl Morey may be shown the door too. He put this squad together that costs a lot of money. 

Plus, the Lakers changed the perception of James Harden. These are what sports pundits will point out about Houston.

They’ve blamed Carmelo Anthony.

They’ve blamed Chris Paul

They’ve blamed Kevin McHale

They’ve blamed Clint Capela

They’ve blamed Mike D’Antoni

Now they will blame Russell Westbrook

Yet there’s been one common denominator for the Rockets through it all…James Harden.

The Los Angeles Lakers will now await the winner of the LA Clippers vs. Denver Nuggets series. The schedule will be set based on when the series is over. The longer the Nuggets extend the series, the more rest and preparation the Lakers get.

To Lakers Nation, congratulations from Lake Show Life!