In an offense-heavy affair where neither team was able to get as many stops as they’d like, it was LeBron and the Lakers who got the last laugh with their 140-132 win over the Rockets on Monday night.
In what has become a trend in games where he plays on the second night of a back-to-back, LeBron had a huge scoring night to lead the Lakers offensively. Coming into tonight’s contest LeBron was averaging 34.3 points on 52.2% shooting, including 43.5% on three-pointers. After a monster (and season high) 48-point performance on 16-26 (61.5%) shooting (5-10 on threes), LeBron’s averages only go up while reinforcing the unprecedented nature of his 20th campaign.
LeBron truly did everything tonight offensively, adding night assists to his scoring outburst to go along with eight rebounds. The fact that he had it going from beyond the arc certainly opened up other aspects of his game, but his general shotmaking was at another level, hitting runners, bank shots and scoop shots to keep defenders at bay. And then, of course, when it came time to throw down some hammers, he had that in his arsenal too.
Russell Westbrook also had a great night for the Lakers, extending his streak of scoring 20 or more points to five straight games with 24 points on 9-16 shooting to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Russ, as he has been all season, was great at getting to the basket and did a good job of taking advantage of Houston’s lack of rim protection to finish inside consistently.
Despite the explosive scoring nights from LeBron and Russ, however, the Rockets were in the game until the end because of their own offensive exploits. Houston may be ranked 30th in offense for the season, but their ability to pressure the rim in the half court, get to the foul line, and attack the offensive glass for second chance points put them in position to keep pressure on the Lakers and go on runs that allowed them to stay connected on the scoreboard.
Alperen Sengun was the key culprit in Houston’s attack, scoring 33 points on 14-17 shooting while grabbing 15 rebounds (four offensive) to go along with six assists. Sengun gave both Thomas Bryant and Wenyen Gabriel fits with his repertoire of post moves and deep shooting ability, getting to his spots on the floor with masterful footwork and then hitting shots with his soft touch.
Despite Houston hanging in, however, the Lakers always seemed to have an answer and it usually came in the form of a LeBron bucket or the team finding a way to get out in transition. The Lakers outscored the Rockets 27-7 in fastbreak points, hunting open court opportunities and using the Houston’s want to chase offensive rebounds against them by leaking out behind them crashing the glass.
The Lakers were also fantastic in protecting the ball, committing a franchise record breaking two turnovers on the night. This type of ball security allowed the Lakers to keep relative pace in terms of shot attempts (100 to 91) even though the Rockets grabbed 17 offensive rebounds on the night and only committed eight turnovers themselves.
The Lakers are back in action on Wednesday when the Kings come to town and will look to get another win streak rolling as their home stand continues.
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