The Houston Rockets lost 104-98 to the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night. Five players scored in double-digits for Houston.
Houston and Los Angeles played a slow first quarter, both shooting very poorly. LA went on a 9-0 run after Houston got up early, and took the lead due to clamping Amen Thompson on defense. The Rockets were able to regain their lead back towards the end of the period, due to the Lakers missing threes against Houston’s zone.
Shooting improved for the Rockets in the second quarter, and they ended the half shooting 46.7% from the field. Their shooting helped them take a lead on the Lakers, but towards the end of the quarter, their it slowed down and the opposition was able to tie the game at 48 going into halftime. Jalen Green played in a passing role for the Rockets, and it really helped them move the ball to get open shots. Thompson took the defensive role on Doncic, and he did a great job icing him.
The Lakers got their biggest lead of the game up by five points with just over three minutes left to play in the third quarter due to breaking down Houston’s defense and making threes, as well as converting the Rockets’ turnovers into points, causing Ime Udoka to call a timeout. Dorian Finney-Smith got hot, hitting some big threes for Los Angeles to give them a lead. Gabe Vincent made his fifth three as well to make the lead 75-69 shortly after the break.
After the Lakers went on a five-minute run without a single field goal made towards the end of the fourth quarter, the Rockets were able to make a small comeback, and cut Los Angeles’ lead down to five points. Dillon Brooks went one-for-two at the free throw line to put the Rockets down by two points with 20 seconds left to play. But LeBron James then followed with two free-throws of his own to put the Lakers up by four points with 11 seconds left to play in the game. A huge block by James for Los Angeles on Alperen Sengun was followed by a missed shot from Houston, leading to free throws by Finney-Smith to close the game.
The Rockets face the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night at Toyota Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CST.
