All season, just when it has seemed the Los Angeles Lakers were starting to get things together for a sustained stretch, they have come out and lost a game in horrible, inexcusable fashion.
That is exactly what happened on Monday against the Houston Rockets after they had put together five wins in their previous seven contests.
The Lakers fell behind 20-10 early, but they started to heat up offensively rather quickly and took the lead with just under five minutes left in the first quarter. That short spurt ended in the blink of an eye. Cam Whitmore, a forward the Lakers passed up on in last June’s draft, scored 12 points in the final 2:19 of the period to give Houston a 42-31 lead going into the second quarter.
Houston remained hot in the second quarter and outplayed the Lakers in multiple categories as it established a 78-60 halftime lead. The 78 points were the most points L.A. had given up in a first half all season.
Nothing changed in the third quarter as the Rockets went up by as many as 30 points. Ham’s squad gave up a season-high 108 points through three quarters. While the Lakers made a run afterward to come within 10 points, it simply wasn’t their night.
They ended up losing, 135-119, and they were outclassed in almost every facet of the game. Houston outrebounded them by 21, which led to 19 second-chance points, had 10 more assists and outscored the Lakers, 29-15, in fast-break points.
While it is understandable that they were perhaps not fully energetic after a thrilling double-overtime win on Saturday over the Golden State Warriors, their apparent lack of effort was inexcusable.
The Purple and Gold will have little time to rest, as they will take on the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday.
Anthony Davis: B-minus
This wasn’t exactly a bad game for Davis. He scored 23 points on 10-of-20 shooting, and he even went 3-of-3 from 3-point range, giving him his first made trey since Jan. 9.
But he produced only seven rebounds in 29 minutes, and the Lakers could’ve used more rebounding and rim protection from him. Meanwhile, he allowed Houston center Alperen Sengun to explode for 31 points on 14-of-24 shooting, plus 12 rebounds and seven assists.
Taurean Prince: D
Prince contributed very little on Monday. He shot just 2-of-6 and missed all but one of his four 3-point attempts, and he mustered just five points, to go along with three rebounds, one assist and one blocked shot.
When he’s not hitting his shot from downtown, he’s close to a useless player for L.A.
Austin Reaves: D
Reaves wasn’t on his game on Monday, and he wasn’t as aggressive offensively as he often is. He shot 3-of-8 and scored just eight points while contributing five assists and four rebounds in 30 minutes.
While he has played very well at times this season, he has struggled to sustain the type of consistency he had last season. He has increased his scoring and assist averages compared to last year, but his shooting accuracy is lower, and he came into Monday having made just 27.3% of his 3-point attempts in his previous 15 contests.
D'Angelo Russell: B-minus
Russell shot reasonably well for much of the game, but he trailed off in the fourth quarter. He missed all four of his shot attempts in that quarter, and he finished 8-of-19 from the field and 3-of-12 from 3-point range.
He scored 23 points while dishing off five assists against just one turnover in 41 minutes after playing 49 minutes on Saturday versus Golden State.
LeBron James: B/B-plus
On the night, James scored 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting while bringing down six rebounds and dealing 10 assists. This came less than 48 hours after he had 36 points, 20 rebounds and 12 assists in 48 minutes against the Warriors.
Ham made a questionable decision by putting James back into the game to start the fourth quarter, perhaps hoping L.A. would make a miraculous run. A run did come, but it was too little, too late, and Ham finally waved the white flag by taking James out with 2:13 left. The 39-year-old ended up logging 37 minutes, and one has to wonder how all that playing time will affect him on Tuesday against the Hawks.
Jarred Vanderbilt: F
Vanderbilt couldn’t make much of an impact for the Lakers because he got ejected after picking up two technical fouls. After he had been in the game for just seven minutes, he pushed Rockets forward Dillon Brooks, which earned him his first technical, and then he tried to get in a second shove, which got him his second technical.
While one could make the argument that Vanderbilt was baited into both technical fouls, he needed to do a better job of containing his frustration, especially against someone like Brooks who makes a living by trolling opponents.
Rui Hachimura: A
Lost in Russell’s recent hot streak is the fact Hachimura has also played well offensively of late. On Monday, Hachimura scored 16 points and made all but one of his five shot attempts while going 6-of-8 from the free-throw line and also grabbing five rebounds in 22 minutes. It was the fourth straight game in which he scored in double digits.
This version of Hachimura is the one L.A. needs if it is to have any shot of salvaging its season.
Christian Wood: D
After playing well dating to late December, Wood’s production has trailed off recently. Against Houston, he made only one of his six shot attempts, and he finished with just two points, two rebounds and two steals in 10 minutes.
Jaxson Hayes: B-plus
After falling out of the rotation a few weeks ago, Hayes played 14 minutes on Monday, which was the most since a blowout loss at the San Antonio Spurs on Dec. 15. He responded by making all four of his field goal attempts to score nine points while adding two rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot.
Max Christie: B-plus
Christie was one of the few Lakers who played with decent energy. He made a solid effort to contest shots, which resulted in one block for him, and he came down with six rebounds while hitting half of his six shot attempts to score seven points in 20 minutes.
Maxwell Lewis, Jalen Hood-Schifino: Incomplete
Both got two minutes of playing time at the end of the game, and while both went scoreless, Hood-Schifino did have one assist and one block.
