LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were blown out of the water at the hands of the Houston Rockets. Coming fresh off a disheartening loss at the hands of the Miami Heat, the Lakers looked to get back on track. Unfortunately, the Rockets took care of business and handed LBJ and the Lakers their third straight loss.

After the game, LeBron James had the opportunity to talk to the media about their loss. While praising the Rockets and Jalen Green, James was able to also identify the ‘head of the monster’ that led the Rockets to bulldoze James and the Lakers.

LeBron James zeros in on the Rockets’ catalyst

LeBron James wasn’t happy after their loss to the Houston Rockets. With no Anthony Davis in the starting lineup, the responsibility on offense fell upon James and the rest of the Lakers lineup. However, the team did not perform well as other players had all the opportunity to shine with no AD in rotation.

After the game, reporters swarmed James in the locker room. One reporter asked him if the energy and effort was there from the squad during this game after the team had doubts as to how the Miami game ended.

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That’s when James said, “Tonight they played extremely well. They did a good job of switching a lot of our pick and rolls and making a standstill for our offense. They shot the ball extremely well, Jalen Green was great from the perimeter.”

“Obviously, Fred VanVleet is the head of the monster. Him being able to find his looks when he wants. But also, his pick-and-roll game was very efficient tonight. They all played well.”

During his conversation with the reporter, James was upset that the team had a few players missing due to injuries from the lineup. He said, “We can’t build cohesion if we don’t have all our units. We were very depleted from the injury side.”

However, despite the loss, James also had some great words to say about his team’s ball rotation in the first half of the game. But in the end, it was the Rockets’ stellar shooting that blew the game out of proportion for the Lakers.

As compared to the Rockets, Los Angeles shot abysmally from the field and from beyond the arc as well.

Factors that led to the Lakers’ blowout

The game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets could be pinned down to two factors; shooting and rebounding. It was no surprise that the Lakers would struggle without Anthony Davis.

But this blowout margin was not expected. With no AD in the lineup, there was no real threat to the Rockets players from driving inside the paint. The entire Rockets roster got minutes in this game against the Lakers.

Moreover, the entire Rockets roster was up on the scoring board as no one finished the game scoreless. And a lot of that is due to the Lakers’ poor interior defense in the absence of Davis.

Now, the Lakers weren’t that great on perimeter defense either. The Rockets shot 54.8% from the field and 42.4% from beyond the arc as well. The Lakers, on the other hand, were average from the field but the same cannot be said for their three-point shooting.

Jalen Green lit up the Lakers, especially with his long-range shooting. Green had an excellent game, finishing the game with 28 points on 11-15 shooting from the field and 5-6 from beyond the arc. He also had 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal for the game.

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But as James said in the interview, it was Fred VanVleet who ran the Rockets offense to perfection. Though VanVleet had an off-night shooting, he more than made up for it with his passing and court vision.

VanVleet ran the offense to perfection, notching 10 assists for the game. But his energy and effort on both sides of the floor do not do justice to the stats he had for the game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Another factor that played a huge role in the outcome of the game was rebounding. The Rockets had a big difference in both offensive and defensive boards that helped them get second-chance shots as well as fastbreak opportunities.

As for the Lakers, the team had barely any help apart from their big names. D’Angelo Russell led the starting lineup, scoring 22 points, followed by an 18-point performance from LeBron James. Rui Hachimura was a big boost off the bench, leading the team in scoring with a 24-point performance.

Players like Taurean Prince and Austin Reaves did not perform well, raising questions about the hype surrounding Reaves. Christian Wood, who started the game for Anthony Davis went scoreless the entire game, attempting only one field goal.

The final score of the matchup was 94-128, as the Rockets ran away with the game, winning it by a 34-point margin. The Lakers will face the Phoenix Suns next, who seem to be at full strength now.

Hopefully, Los Angeles can recuperate by then or they’ll be looking at another blowout.