Game Thread: Rockets @ Lakers

[OutlawImmortal]

Just got home, tied at 112 with 3 minutes to go. Luke already has them more competitive than last season.

 

[Malibu]

Go Lakers!!! Damn turnovers. End this. Peace.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

Clarkson's stare down 3 clinches it with a minute and a half to go. Lakers defeat the Rockets 120-114 behind Clarkson's 23 point 2nd half.

 

[Malibu]

Clarkson's stare down 3 clinches it with a minute and a half to go. Lakers defeat the Rockets 120-114 behind Clarkson's 23 point 2nd half.

Great start to the season. This bunch will score points and be fun to watch. Just ways to go on defense. Lakers 1-0 Warriors 0-1 ha peace.

 

[wildturkey]

They played this game under ABA rules; defense was outlawed

 

[Chilipepper]

Lakers new defensive strategy let the other team have lay ups all game so they don't get 3 pointers. It worked. Lakers did clean the defense up in the second half. Hard to be worse. Offense looks good. Good start! GO LAKERS!

 

[True Lakers Fan]

Nice win to begin the season - If the Lakers can build on this, their season will be a fun one to watch

 

[Retroram52]

I agree with the prevailing sentiment here so far. This team is immensely better than last year's. We will know if this legit if they follow this win up with more wins.

 

[Black Adam]

They played this game under ABA rules; defense was outlawed

part of 'Antoni's world(no D on purpose). think about it...

 

[lasportzphan]

Good win from the young guys. I'm hoping for the best: flawless mediocrity so Philly gets a mid 1st round pick.

Or

Another shit the bed season to secure a top 3 pick.

The second is on the table as long as Jim Buss is around.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

Just caught the game on Game Pass as it started at 3:30am local time here.

Damn this group is going to be fun to watch!!!

 

[lakersrule]

It was the D'Antoni Rockets. I hope no one was expecting a grind it out game. The Lakers did hold the Rockets to 43 second half points. They played some defense then.

Nice win in a close game to start out the season. I just read a tweet saying this is the first time that the Lakers are over .500 since December 2013. It's been crazy bad. Rock bottom was not very fun. I doubt they finish the season over .500, but it will certainly be a more entertaining product than the last couple of seasons.

 

[shopson67]

They played this game under ABA rules; defense was outlawed

...just need the tri-colored ball!

 

[shopson67]

Pretty solid effort. Clarkson really came through in the second half, while Russell played pretty well. Randle was incredibly efficient on offense, he was near unstoppable backing the defender down.

The defense should improve with time as they gel as a unit. Defense has to be a team effort.

 

[lasportzphan]

It was the D'Antoni Rockets. I hope no one was expecting a grind it out game. The Lakers did hold the Rockets to 43 second half points. They played some defense then.

Nice win in a close game to start out the season. I just read a tweet saying this is the first time that the Lakers are over .500 since December 2013. It's been crazy bad. Rock bottom was not very fun. I doubt they finish the season over .500, but it will certainly be a more entertaining product than the last couple of seasons.

Here's to mediocrity!!

 

[Inimical]

Saw the highlights, as will probably be the case for me most of the season. Was happy with the result, the tools are there for good Defense also. They have the athleticism, was happy with the way the offense moved.

 

[lakersrule]

Here's to mediocrity!!

Well, rock bottom to mediocrity would be a positive development. Not expecting these guys to win a title this season. Nice to see you actually happy for a win!

 

[DJ]

Told y'all and most of ya didn't believe me. Yeah, I know it's just the proverbial 1 game, but we're gonna surprise a lot of people. Book it: 33-37 wins and next season we compete for a 6-8 seed.

 

[trojanfan12]

On the defense:

Defense is the most difficult thing for young players to learn. At least the defensive effort was there. There were far too many games over the past few seasons where there wasn't even an effort made on defense. Heck, even Swaggy P was trying to play defense.

Also, while the overall defense was pretty bad, they were able to get a few stops later in the game, which proved to be the difference. As @lakersrule pointed out, they held the Rockets to 43 points in the 2nd half. That's fairly impressive against a D'Antoni offense.

 

[trojanfan12]

Good win from the young guys. I'm hoping for the best: flawless mediocrity so Philly gets a mid 1st round pick.

Or

Another shit the bed season to secure a top 3 pick.

The second is on the table as long as Jim Buss is around.

Trying to decide if it's time to give Jim Buss a break or not. While much of what we have seen over the past few years isn't his fault and was inevitable once Phil retired and the roster first got old and then had to be re-done without much of a way to do it, there was also plenty that was his fault (mainly coaching hires and gutting the training staff).

His mistakes have since been corrected and the Lakers have put together what appears to be a very good young core that looks to be on the right track.

I don't know if he has finally learned how to do his job or got smart enough to get the hell out of Mitch's way, but I like what I'm seeing so far.