Heading into consecutive home games versus the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, several members of the Houston Rockets suggested that it would be a useful test to see where they stood.
The Rockets certainly got some answers, but they weren’t the ones the team was hoping for. After losing by 18 points on Sunday, Houston fell behind by 21 after just the first quarter on Tuesday, leading to an uncompetititve 117-100 loss (box score) to the Lakers at Toyota Center.
The Rockets (3-6) have now lost four of five games and are a season-worst three games below .500, while the Lakers (8-3) have won seven of eight and sit atop the Western Conference as the No. 1 seed.
LeBron James had 26 points and 8 rebounds, while Anthony Davis added 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks. The Lakers shot an impressive 14-of-32 (43.8%) on 3-pointers, led by 4-of-5 by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and their collective length and defensive intensity helped limit Houston to a 12-of-40 shooting night (30.0%) from 3-point range.
Christian Wood led Houston with 18 points and 8 rebounds, but veteran guards James Harden and John Wall were held well below their usual averages with 16 and 10 points, respectively. Between the two, they shot just 9-of-27 (33.3%) overall. The fourth quarter consisted of primarily bench players, since Houston entered trailing by 26 points. Veterans DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Gordon each scored 13 in limited minutes.
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The more noteworthy takeaways came in Tuesday’s postgame media availabilities, when head coach Stephen Silas and select Houston players were asked to make sense of what had happened to lead to consecutive embarrassing results. Harden made his stance fairly clear regarding his known desire for a trade, while Wall took a more optimistic approach that things could eventually be salvaged after a slow start.
Here’s a roundup of their comments.