Lakers News: Without Its Stars, LA's Defense Collapses Against Tanking Rockets

Los Angeles botches a very winnable Houston game.

Well that was tough to stomach.

There are plenty of caveats to explain why your Los Angeles Lakers fell 114-110 to the Houston Rockets.

LA didn't have three rotation players, including their two top scorers and best pieces, you could say. The Lakers were playing on the second night of a back-to-back set, you'd add. Houston has actually gone 4-3 in its last seven games, and just beat the East's No. 2 seeded Boston Celtics on Monday, you may point out.

None of that sits comfortably with yours truly. Even with the aforementioned qualifiers, this was a very winnable game for the Lakers. The rebuilding Rockets are still just 17-52 this season, the West's absolute worst team by record. The Lakers still had three really solid regular starters (D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt) and several quality role players (Troy Brown Jr., Austin Reaves, Wenyen Gabriel, Rui Hachimura) available against a young, inexperienced Houston team that wants to lose.

That said, the biggest issues for LA were the team's defense around the rim and an over-reliance on jump-shooting.

The Rockets quickly got off to a hot start, leading the Lakers 19-11 on 8-of-12 field goal shooting by the midway point of the contest's first quarter. Houston would go on to outpace LA 31-19 at the end of the frame.

LA held its own a bit more in the second quarter, though the Rockets did slightly outscore the Lakers even in that frame, 31-29. Houston took a 62-48 lead into the halftime break.

Post play made a huge difference. The Rockets enjoyed huge advantages in rebounding (51-36) and points scored in the paint (78-46!). LA in the first half just stood around and heaved threes, while simultaneously allowing a Houston layup line on the other end.

At least Lonnie Walker IV got legitimate rotation minutes again due to LA's need for scoring punch thanks to its various absences, and proceeded to penetrate on occasion:

Lonnie Sky-Walker IV! pic.twitter.com/j3UvLAHosp

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 16, 2023

Too bad he can't play defense. He's more of a theoretical highlight reel at this point in the season than an impactful contributor, but it was still nice to see him get a little run tonight.

As expected, the Lakers went on a bit of a run in the third quarter. A 26-21 third frame helped LA cut the Rockets' lead to within 10 points, 83-74. Los Angeles also adjusted its defensive schemes, opting to throw a help defender at starting center Alperen Sengun whenever he got the rock. It didn't make much of a difference in the overall end result.

The Rockets held onto their lead, though occasional signs of life could be found from a half-hearted LA fourth quarter.

In the game's final minute, things looked close to over, with the Rockets up eight, 109-101. The Lakers had a little fight left in them. Malik Beasley nailed a late, meaningless 27-foot triple to put LA within five, 114-109, with 1.1 seconds left. Austin Reaves somehow drew a foul on Houston's leading scorer of the night, Kevin Porter Jr., and made one of his two flagrant tries. It ultimately just shrank the final margin, but the game was already over.

This was a winnable game. With the loss, the Lakers now slip to a 34-36 record and the Western Conference's tenth seed.

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