Lakers Reach a New Low With Loss to the Houston Rockets
Just when you think things couldn't any worse for the Lakers. They went into Houston to take on the Rockets, who are clearly a team that has no intentions of competing this season. Its should have been an easy win, especially with LeBron James into the lineup again.
Instead, the Lakers fell to the Rockets in overtime. A lack of defense was once again the story in this one as Los Angeles' offense got going early. They put up 38 points in the first quarter, only to be matched by Houston who put up 32 of their own.
The Lakers did manage to have fewer turnovers than the Rockets, who had 20 of their own. But the defense failed to make stops all night long, allowing their starters to put up a combined 95 points in the contest.
The Lakers bench had little help aside from DJ Augustin and Carmelo Anthony, who combined for 29 points in 52 minutes. Augustin hit 4 of his 7 three point attempts in his first big game with the purple and gold.
Even Russell Westbrook had a noticeably good game. He scored 30 points and shot 52 percent from the field, but it wasn't enough for the Lakers. LeBron scored 23 of his own, but a bad decision with time expiring in regulation ultimately proved to be the difference-maker.
The Lakers now sit at 28-37 and are just a game and a half above the Pelicans for the tenth seed in the Western Conference. More importantly, they are just 3 games away from falling out of the play-in tournament.
