Vogel is making this a lot harder then it has to be Really stubborn with his starting lineups Morris goes 4 out 4 from 3 in the first half and then doesn't get any time till a few minute left in the 3rd and the lead gone Kuzma has a very strong end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th where with Lebron the Lakers were able to get control of the game. No minutes in the 4th after he sits down with 9 minutes to go He seems beholden to give Rondo just tons of minutes. While Rondo was better then game 1 and I liked how he went mid range, man I've watched LeBron his entire career. He's won 3 titles and was only stopped by the GOAT of all teams with shooters around him
I thought it was a good overall win. Yeah we blew a big lead, but that lead never felt big. We had a few fortunate minutes where we caught fire and quickly inflated the lead, so giving up that lead to such an insane barrage of threes by Houston wasn’t too egregious. Definitely still a lot of room for improvement, but I think we’re going to play better and better as the series progresses as we get a better feel for Houston’s quirky playstyle.
Not playing Howard was huge. He's simply incapable of defending the Rockets and his poor post moves makes him useless offensively. I think the Lakers should just bench McGee and Howard for the entire series and start Markieff. Rockets were on fire from three shooting 40% on 53 attempts... Most teams will lose to a team that can shoot like that. It was a good game by the Lakers but I am still disappointed that we didn't put the boots on their neck and just destroy their confidence. Russell Westbrick was bad in the playoffs as usual. Makes me wonder how deadly the Rockets would be if they had Damian Lillard instead.. Oof, that team would be insane. Kuzma with a solid performance... he should be getting more minutes against this small Rockets team. With Bron, AD, Kuzma, Green or KCP, and Rondo/Caruso, I don't see any Rockets lineup that can outperform that.
One thing is for sure...Lebron is going to have to play huge minutes for us to win this series. Every time he went to the bench for a rest, I was uneasy. Especially those couple of minutes when both he and AD were off the floor (stop doing that Frank!)
Bron and AD have to go for 60. Have to. Or our role players have to shoot extremely well - then it's a blowout. But that's unlikely to happen 4 times.
It just means the other dudes have to show up. Vogel is playing LeBron and AD the right amount of minutes. AD is injury prone and LeBron can't give you 40 minutes against this Rockets offense. LeBron has been playing the best defense in recent years but when our team is struggling, it screws with the rotations that Frank originally planned for. Markieff, KCP, Rondo, Caruso, Kuzma, Danny Green... all of them are capable of contributing but we just need 3-4 to give us decent performances. Tonight, Markieff, Rondo, and Kuzma showed up. I want to see more from KCP and Danny Green. Caruso... man, this guy needs to be more confident with his 3 point shooting. Wide open shots and he just clanks them.
Lakers +15 in 12 minutes with Bron at the 5... As I said before our the series would be over in 5 games with no AD on the court ( I understand no coach in the universe would do this but still)
Had to check our nerve today after faltering. More than happy that we could go Star Trek on the Rockets and kill those Red Shirts. Two losses in the first two games would be a bridge too far.
Worth noting that the Rockets were up 2-0 vs the OKC and the rest of those games, OKC looked like they figured out the Rockets. They're the most unorthodox team in arguably NBA history so hopefully the Lakers are better prepared as each game passes by.
Man, that dude's an enigma. He should only be dishing or on lockdown D. Unless it's a guaranteed layup or slam, just dish it, AC
Solid win other than that porous D in the third quarter. Really nice to see us dominating them in stretches. Lebron and AD were magnificent. They have to keep that up.
Yep this is going 7. Rockets should be worried to not win a game in which they hit 22 threes. We should be worried because it's unlikely we are shooting 3's as we did in the 1st half again .
Anyway we can convince Pringles to play Westbrook all 48? I swear, he's one of our best players. At this point, I think Rondo might be able to beat him in a 3 point shootout. Between the awful shooting and the turnovers, he's the gift that keeps on giving at the tune of $38 5m
Still not worried. They'll never have an answer for Lebron and AD. Our D is too good for them to get easy buckets when the game slows down. Defend the 3 better next game. That is all.
This type of ball is hard to watch. They pass up open layups and gimmies in the paint and kick the ball for a 3. MDA is a cancer to basketball, seriously, f*** that guy! Also, midget Tucker guarding AD is beyond funny. I hope AD embarasses and humiliates him, to the point of MDA's tears and an ejection or two.
Gotta admit...Rondo. 9 assists. That is huge. He helped Morris and Kuz a lot. I said it in the early pages - this series is for Morris and Kuz. If they are better than Covington and Green we are good. Also, I mean it, Dudley should play over McGee and Dwight. Space the floor and is a smart, slow-old-man defender who can switch and rotate decently.
the good: winning when houston hit 22 threes. not many teams lose games in which they hit 22 threes the bad: relying on rondo we've decided to play their game the last one is particularly troubling. i don't like trying to play a completely different brand of basketball for the first time in a playoff series. the rotations haven't played together, recipe for turnovers (houston lives on these) and missed defensive rotations (everyone lives on these). hope it works, but it's a dangerous game.
