Los Angeles Lakers vs. Houston Rockets: Postgame Grades and Analysis
The Los Angeles Lakers donned their cowboy boots to take on the Houston Rockets deep in the heart of Texas on Thursday night. After 59 minutes and 57 seconds of a back-and-forth game that seemed destined to end as a valiant Rockets comeback, Steve Blake buried a trey and delivered a thrilling 99-98 victory for the Lakers.
James Harden led all scorers with 35 points, and Dwight Howard got 15 with 14 boards, but the Lakers got 54 points from their bench to power them past Houston.
LA romped in the first half, opening a 36-19 lead after one quarter and leading by as many as 19 points. Harden reached 20 points by the half, but he still found his Rockets staring at a 64-50 deficit. Clearly, the Lake Show had something to prove in their first game against Dwight Howard and his new team, as they held Houston to 35 percent shooting for 24 minutes.
Naturally, the Lakers couldn't play defense that well for the entire game, and they also went cold from the field. The Rockets outscored LA by 10 points in the third quarter and knotted the game at 84 apiece with 10 minutes remaining.
Howard re-entered the game with just under six minutes remaining, and that's when Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni deployed the dreaded hack-a-Dwight strategy. D12 converted half of the 10 foul shots awarded to him during that stretch, which is pretty good in Shaquille O'Neal's book. However, a pair of missed free throws by Howard in the final minute may have doomed the Rockets.
With Houston leading 98-96 and three seconds remaining, Blake saw his defender get lost in the crowd. He took the inbounds pass and drilled home the game-winning triple, vaulting the Lakers over Superman and the Rockets. Read on for grades and analysis of every position for both teams.
Point Guard
1 of 6
Patrick Beverley, Rockets: C-
Beverley took the starting job from Jeremy Lin for less than a full game before suffering an injury. Now he has returned to claim his No. 1 PG role. Unfortunately, his offensive game still looks injured as he was ice cold from the field and got completely outshined on the offensive end by Jeremy Lin.
He finished with three points on 1-of-10 shooting. Yikes. He added four assists and four rebounds, plus a steal and a block.
However, it also seemed that he made a mess of the screen by Nash on the final and deciding play. Beverley should have switched and covered Blake, as there's no way Lin could go around the crowd and stay with Blake.
Steve Nash, Lakers: B-
Nash is a great point guard, but he's getting old and has clearly lost a step or three. He can obviously distribute, but some poor shooting and a handful of turnovers can be expected along with his suspect defense. Nash turned in precisely that sort of up-and-down night on Thursday.
He ended with 12 points on 3-of-11 shooting, with six assists and four turnovers. And he also set one very important screen on the game-winning shot.
Shooting Guard
2 of 6
James Harden, Rockets: A-
Harden missed his first five shots and saw his team go down 23-8 before he drained his first field goal. He had 20 points by halftime largely because of his aggression to the rim, leading to 13 free-throw attempts.
The Bearded One played 44 of the 48 minutes and tried to be the whole team. He scored 35 points on 9-of-24 shooting, adding nine rebounds, five assists, four steals and two blocks. He also bricked a jumper off the front rim with 11 seconds left that would have stretched the lead to four and iced the game.
Sadly, his ugly defense persisted against the Lakers, including down the stretch. He watched Blake dribble directly past him for an easy layup midway through the fourth quarter. That said, he did exhibit more energy on defense in the final four minutes, and he forced a crucial late turnover when LA trailed by just two.
Though Harden expends a tremendous amount of energy on offense, he cannot continue to be so sluggish and flat-footed on D.
Steve Blake, Lakers: B+
Blake had his scoring touch working early, notching nine points in his first 15 minutes on the court. He cooled off in the second half and only tallied two assists in the game, but he walked off the court as a hero.
Down 98-96, the Lakers inbounded the ball and made a complete mess of it. They were lucky to get it back off a deflection with three seconds remaining. That's when Blake flashed off a tangled screen designed by Coach D'Antoni and found himself open for the game-winning three-pointer.
He nailed it.
Speaking to TNT's Craig Sager after the game, Blake responded to a question about whether he was the first option on the inbounds play, saying: "It was really just Steve (Nash) and I were gonna kinda curl around each other and see if they made a mistake. And they did."
Blake knocked down the shot and knocked out the Rockets. You can blame either Beverley or Lin for that mistake.
Small Forward
3 of 6
Chandler Parsons, Rockets: B
Parsons pulled a disappearing act in the first half with five points and one rebound. He missed four of his six shots and got one of them stuffed courtesy of Chris Kaman.
But Parsons got a little momentum in the second half and kept his high motor running, ending with 16 points. He knifed in for a key layup that cut the deficit to one with under five minutes left, then he cut through the paint for a slam that gave Houston its first lead since the 10-minute mark of the first quarter.
However, he also inbounded the ball to Howard with the Rockets up two points inside of a minute, and Howard promptly missed both foul shots. In a one-point loss, that decision loomed large. Let's be clear: Do not pass the ball to Howard with under two minutes remaining. He will be fouled immediately.
Nick Young, Lakers: B
Nick Young is like a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, encased in a Lakers jersey. He is active on the court, although prone to the occasional mental lapse. He tallied 11 points but missed four of his five attempts from downtown. He also had four boards, two assists and two steals in just 22 minutes.
He could be a great bargain for the Lakers going forward if D'Antoni can harness his skills.
Power Forward
4 of 6
Dwight Howard, Rockets: B+
Howard faced the team he hand-picked in 2012 and then burned in 2013 for the first time. You would think he would be motivated to perform well, but he didn't seem to have that mentality on the offensive end. And for good measure, he missed all four first-half free throws.
Hack-a-Dwight commenced in the fourth quarter, and Howard knocked them down at a 50 percent clip. Then Parsons threw him the ball with a two-point lead and less than a minute remaining. Howard missed both foul shots, and the Rockets eventually lost by a point.
Howard's line was decent—15 points and 14 rebounds—but the game was not pretty.
He scored six points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the first half, but TNT analyst and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley slammed the center in his halftime comments for not playing with more determination in the post. Barkley specifically praised Pau Gasol for creating post opportunities as part of the flow of the offense, despite not having Howard's raw talent.
Pau Gasol, Lakers: C+
Speaking of Gasol, he suffered a dreadful shooting night. He was putting up bricks like he was adding a solarium to his house, missing eight of his first nine shots. He was strong on the glass, but the veteran oddly did not lend much help to the potent Lakers offense on this night.
He finished up with two points on 1-of-10 from the field and never got to the line. He and Patrick Beverley should form a club. Gasol did grab 12 rebounds and had two assists, but he was responsible for three of LA's 24 turnovers.
Center
5 of 6
Omer Asik, Rockets: C+
It's rare to see four centers on the floor for the opening tip, but that's precisely what the Lakers and Rockets provided us: Howard, Gasol, Asik and Kaman simultaneously! And then both teams ran up and down the court like the Golden State Warriors.
And alongside Howard, whom he was vocal about not wanting to play with, Asik continued his vanishing routine. He ended with six points and nine rebounds, but he also fumbled away three turnovers. You never want to have half as many turnovers as points.
Chris Kaman, Lakers: B-
Kaman did a little bit of everything against Houston's sizable frontcourt. All things considered, he outperformed Howard relative to his court time and was a boon for the Lakers up front.
Kaman had six points, 10 boards, two steals and two blocks. He also committed four turnovers, but I think that's part of the Lakers' game plan.
Bench
6 of 6
Rockets Bench: B-
Jeremy Lin returned to his bench duties and that seemed to suit him well. He was efficient on offense and dynamic on defense, which was quite unexpected. He finished the night with 16 points and added three dimes, three steals and two blocks. That's right, two blocks!
Unfortunately, a defensive miscommunication between Lin and the man who took his job, Patrick Beverley, led to an open look for Steve Blake, who obviously has a flair for the dramatic.
Unlike Lin, Omri Casspi and Francisco Garcia were both detriments to the Rockets offense in their relief roles. They combined to shoot 2-of-11 from the field and did not do much else. Kevin McHale went with a short rotation and kept five guys on the bench.
Lakers Bench: A
So Jodie Meeks had 11 first-half points. Yes, really. He scored a game-high 18 points, which was helped along by 5-of-7 from three-point range. Congratulations to him, but don't expect it to happen again.
Wesley Johnson was also letting it fly from long range, going 3-of-8 on his way to 16 points. He also continued his shot-blocking prowess with a pair of swats.
Jordan Farmar took charge of the offense and started handing out assists like milk boxes at lunch time. He finished with seven dimes and 11 points to go with five rebounds.
The other Jordan, Jordan Hill, continued to be a pest in the middle and even notched three assists. He totaled six points, four boards and two blocks as the Lakers continue not to miss Dwight Howard.
Xavier Henry, an early-season sensation, was unable to find his game and shot 1-of-5.
Next, the Lakers hit the Bayou to face Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night, while Houston hosts the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.
