Lakers surge late and defeat Rockets for their sixth consecutive win
HOUSTON — In their first meeting of the season on Christmas Day, Lakers coach JJ Redick said the Lakers were “punked” by the Houston Rockets and vowed not to let it happen again.
On Monday, the Lakers displayed their toug to hness in a 100-92 win over the Rockets at Toyota Center.
Even when they missed 14 comsecutive shots at one point in the fourth quarter, the Lakers showed their resilience with a gritty defensive effort that kept them in the game. The Lakers scored only 17 points in the fourth, but they held the Rockets to just 12 points en route to their sixth consecutive win.
“They’re a really good basketball team and they make you either play hard and match their physicality, and how they muck the game up, or you can lay down,” Redick said. “And we didn’t lay down tonight. Had a deficit there in the third quarter. Our guys just kept playing.”
Luka Doncic led the Lakers with 36 points, six rebounds and four assists. LeBron James scored 18 points and Austin Reaves had 15 points.
But three big baskets from Deandre Ayton (seven points, 11 rebounds) and a big three-pointer by Marcus Smart (11 points) helped the Lakers open their six-game trip with a win.
Sitting third in the Western Conference, the Lakers (43-25) will take a 1½-game lead over the Rockets (41-26) into their rematch on Wednesday night.
“Obviously, we have another one on Wednesday, but it was a very important game,” said Doncic, who shot 14 for 27 from the field. We’ve been playing very good. Our defense has been pretty good, so just gotta continue that way.”
The Lakers threw double teams at Houston’s Kevin Durant all game, limiting him to 18 points and forcing him into seven of the Rockets’ 24 turnovers.
Durant shot only 16 times yet made eight. He was one for three in the fourth quarter and had just as many turnovers as points (two) in the final 12 minutes. One of those turnovers was on an eight-second violation.
“He’s one of the greatest players we’ve ever seen play,” James said. “Obviously you got to try to show him different looks, try to keep him off-balanced and when he shoots, hope he misses. So, I thought we did a good job of having a game plan but also just switching up our pitches.
“You can’t show a great like that too many of the same coverages throughout the whole game. He’ll get a feel for it.”
Doncic got off to what has become his typical first-quarter starts, scoring 16 points on seven-for-10 shooting. But Houston took a 58-51 lead at halftime after taking control of the boards in the second quarter. The Rockets turned six offensive rebounds into 13 points.
The Lakers also had a hard time scoring, shooting only 32% from the field and 13% (one for eight) from three-point range in the quarter.
After trailing by as many as 10 points in the third quarter, the Lakers surged and took an 83-80 lead heading into the fourth. After what happened in L.A. back in December, the Lakers were determined not to let Houston run away with the game.
After taking an 85-80 lead, the Lakers struggled to find consistent offense until Ayton checked back into the game with 4:52 left. Ayton scored on a tip shot to give the Lakers an 89-88 lead, then scored off a pair of offensive rebounds in the final 90 seconds to help keep the Lakers ahead for good. He finished with six points and five rebounds in the fourth quarter.
“He was amazing,” James said. “I mean, just the fact that he was sitting over there for as long as he did and stayed locked in on the game and came in and finished the game. He was able to get a tip-dunk, a couple of jump hooks around the rim, and a couple of rebounds. He helped us finish the game.”
Note: Lakers backup center Maxi Kleber did not play as he continues to recover from a lumbar back strain. “He’s basically been shut down for five days to sort of heal,” Redick said. “He’s not with us right now, and we hope he’s able to join us later on in the trip.”
