2026 Playoffs: (4) Lakers Vs (5) Rockets - Discussion

rockets are better without KD

 

yeah, they're harder to defend with him (i hope we have a better plan for sengun tonight than we did last game, though), but the team just plays better when he's not there right now, perhaps out of spite, lol.

 

Heard in a pod that when KD doesn't play, everyone is slotted into their best roles and there's more spacing.
When KD has the ball, which he does a lot, Sengun and Amen are not floor spacers and it shrinks their offense. They also play at a higher pace without him.

More and more I see basketball as fit-based sport more than talent or skill. I think the game evolved to that due to being so more paced, much more skilled and teams having so much data nowadays to find the best counters.

I grew up watching in the late 90s and early 00s where the talent itself would win games because there were more isos and half court execution. There's was also a substantial skill gap between stars and role players.
Now role players can get you 40 and it's just another Tuesday.

There's much more than "who have the best players" because the game is much more complex and that explains why Indiana gets to the Finals, Boston are so good after dumping half of the rotation or we are beating the Rockets.

 

They better treat this, like it's game 7...

 

yeah, i agree with all this. you can't just amass talent and roll the ball out there anymore.

yeah, pressure completely reverses if we lose tonight.

 

Sengun is being effectively guarded by Ayton. We just need to minimise the minutes of Hayes, while swiping at Sengun more successfully from help defense.

 

WTF 26 % from deep in closing game at home
Trade all to Siberia

 

Rockets looking much quicker, more athletic & deeper.

 

i would like to think there's no way lebron would let this team to be the first to ever blow a 3-0 series lead, but stranger things have happened

 

History making sweep of the last 4 games would be something

 

guess i don't view it as that embarrassing. luka isn't playing, and reaves missed the first 4 games (and was clearly rusty in game 5). many of us (and most of the media) had this as a 4 or 5 game houston win. now, that was before durant was also out, but still, durant isn't luka.

the only thing sticking in my craw is the unforced turnovers, basically all series long. yeah, yeah, they're athletic and all, but that makes it even more important not to have the careless variety. the shooting ups and downs will happen, particularly when you're a bad shooting team like we are. but you can control attempting wild passes. how many run outs have we actually successfully executed in this series? success rate has to be like 10% right now.

anyway, the only way we're winning another game in this series is to have another uncharacteristically hot shooting night like games 1 and 2. it could happen in either of the next two games, but if it doesn't, we're cooked. i don't really see any adjustments to make. make shots and take care of the ball. our halfcourt defense has been largely good.

 

Yeah. They are playing to fast, hurried basketball which creates turnovers. Credit to the Rockets defense but no need to panic and throw away the ball when pressured. I thought having another ball handler in Reaves would had helped. Lakers need to play more physical, set up better screens to free up the offense more.