During the first half of this season, as well as last season, the Los Angeles Lakers had very few runaway double-digit wins.
However, it seems as though they’re starting to make winning by sizable margins a habit.
On Sunday, they visited the Houston Rockets and embarrassed them, 134-109, in front of their home fans. By doing so, the Lakers rose to seventh place in the Western Conference. They’re just half a game behind the sixth-place Los Angeles Clippers and one game behind the fifth-place Golden State Warriors.
Los Angeles opened a double-digit lead in the first quarter, and it never looked back. It sliced and diced the worst team in the West by taking advantage of one of the NBA’s worst defenses.
Even better, the team didn’t get complacent, as it continued to increase its lead throughout the second half.
The Lakers are 15-7 since the players acquired in the Russell Westbrook trade debuted, and with a 40-38 record, they seem to be streaking toward bypassing the play-in tournament.