Is the Lakers too weak, or is the Rockets too strong? Today, these two teams met and they presented us with a thrilling match. At the beginning of the season, the Lakers were regarded by us as the favorite to win the championship, winning the championship is their only goal, and the Rockets lack competitiveness, no one is optimistic about their good results, it turns out that the Rockets are indeed so, currently ranking last in the West, however, the Lakers are not in good condition, they have fallen to the ninth place in the West after five consecutive losses, not to mention the championship, it has become difficult to keep the playoff qualification.
The Lakers have been affected by injuries, and many core players have not been able to play, but this is not the main reason for the poor performance, they still have players that other teams envy, the number of superstars is not small, and the starting players sent by the Lakers in this game are Westbrook, James, Munch, Johnson and Bradley. The Rockets don't have an All-Star star, they send out the starting players are Gordon, Wood, Green, Porter Jr. and Novaba, the team's big name Wall has not appeared so far this season, a look at the lineup we know why the Rockets have lost more than they have won this season.
In the first quarter, both teams gave up defense to focus on offense, scoring more than thirty points in a single quarter, and the Rockets had a slight advantage, one more point than the Lakers. In the second quarter, the Lakers maintained offensive firepower, while the Rockets were limited by the opponent's defense, and they only scored twenty-four points in this quarter, and after the end of the first half, the game's point difference was eight points, and the Lakers temporarily led.
The Rockets found their offensive feel in the third quarter and continued to play against the Lakers, they scored thirty-three points in this quarter, the gap between the two sides narrowed by three points, and in the fourth quarter James took over the game, scoring fourteen points, six rebounds and three assists in the single quarter, and single-handedly helped the Lakers to keep the victory.
The Lakers beat the Rockets 132-123, and there were 15 draws in this game, the Lakers led by 11 points at most, and the Rockets led by 4 points at most, and the final point difference was 9 points.
James played 39 minutes and had 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists on 11-of-19 shooting; Westbrook had 24 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists on 10-of-17 shooting; Anthony had 24 points and 9 rebounds on 9-of-15 shooting; and Munch had 25 points and two rebounds on 7-of-14 shooting.
Seven players scored more than twenty points in the game: James, Westbrook, Anthony, Porter Jr., Green, Munch and Wood, with James and Westbrook scoring a triple-double. Because both teams were affected by injuries and could only rotate eight people, the players played longer.
In the 2021-22 regular season, the Lakers recorded 17 wins and 18 losses, with a win rate of 48.6%, ranking 7th in the West.
Being able to end the losing streak is of course a good thing, but the Lakers won not easily, and this is still facing the Rockets without stars, there is a significant gap in the depth of the two lineups, so the Lakers have not yet found a good way to win. After this game, the Lakers have won seventeen games this season and are currently promoted to seventh place in the West, but the gap with the team behind them is not large, and they have not yet escaped the dangerous period.
After the game, James was interviewed by the media, who said that he was in very good shape and would not consider retiring for the time being. James is already a thirty-six-year-old veteran, and there are only a few players who are older than him, but he is still in the ranks of top superstars, which fans admire.