Lakers lifted by stars in win over Rockets
The Los Angeles Lakers got a big lift from their stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who combined for 64 points in their 105-104 win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday.
“He’s playing phenomenal. His shot is falling. He’s attacking the paint. Making the right reads,” Davis said of LeBron’s play this season. “He’s doing it all right now… It doesn’t feel like he’s 38.”
The Lakers improve to 8–6 on the season, propelled by a 5–1 record in their last six games.
With the score tied at 104 with four seconds left, LeBron took the game-deciding attempts after getting free and then fouled by Dillion Brooks and two other Rockets defenders for a chance to take the lead at the foul line with 1.9 seconds left.
LeBron missed the first attempt, increasing the worry from the Lakers crowd, but nailed the second one, making it difficult for Houston, who had no timeouts and the inbound from their baseline.
“He was outstanding,” said head coach Darvin Ham. “The LeBron we’ve all come to know and love over these 21 years.”
LeBron finished with a game-high 37 points on 2-for-5 (40%) shooting from three and 14-for-19 (73.6%) overall. He added eight assists, six rebounds and three steals in his 39 minutes of action.
Davis finished with a 27-point, 10-rebound double-double performance with a high-efficiency shooting night, going 11-for-15 (73.3%) from the field in 32 minutes.
“We weren’t shooting the ball particularly well; we had to take it back to the mid-90s,” head coach Darvin Ham said. “With AD on that stretch, feeding him in the post.”
Despite a low shooting night from three, going 20.7% (9-for-29) from deep, the Lakers had a high volume night from the foul line, making 21-of-29 (72.4%) attempts at the foul line.
Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura were the only two Lakers to score in double figures, while both of their production came from the bench.
Reaves finished with 17 points, six rebounds and six assists on 2-of-3 (66.6%) shooting from three and 5-for-7 (71.4%) overall in 25 minutes.
In 32 minutes, Hachimura finished with 11 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals on 0-for-3 shooting from three and 4-for-10 shooting from the field.
The Lakers' next matchup is scheduled for Tuesday, the first night of a back-to-back home stretch against the Utah Jazz at 7 p.m.
The Jazz matchup will be the Lakers' fourth in-season tournament game as they go in with a 3–0 group-a record.
