Lakers surge past Rockets in all-around win
The Los Angeles Lakers climbed back in the win column in front of a roaring Crypto.com Arena crowd in their 107-97 win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
The Lakers win improves their season record to 12–9 and an 8–2 record at home.
After a 30–25 deficit at the end of the first quarter, the Lakers changed the game's momentum with a 31–8 run to end the first half, resulting in a 60–44 lead going into halftime.
The Lakers' burst of new energy was with the welcome of Jarred Vanderbilt, who missed the first 20 games of the season to a heel injury, and Cam Reddish back to the lineup. The two above-average defenders showed a different versatility in Los Angeles’ defense with their length perimeter defending and elite switching.
“I feel good. A little rusty as expected, so just trying to get back in rhythm, back in shape and continue to build chemistry on the court with my teammates,” Vanderbilt said.
Vanderbilt finished without tallying a single point, going 0-for-2 from three, but notched four rebounds in 13 minutes.
The Lakers went on to outscore the Rockets 82-67 after the first quarter behind a dominating Anthony Davis performance.
“There’s a lot of things that we can do when we’re healthy on the defensive end,” Davis said.
Davis finished with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the field while tallying 14 rebounds and five blocks in 36 minutes.
With an up-and-down season throughout the first 20 games, while being removed from the starting unit in that stretch, Austin Reaves embraced every role with professionalism, showing tonight in his efforts.
Reaves finished second on the team with 18 points in 22 minutes off the bench while adding four assists, three steals and a 54.5% shooting percentage on 6-of-11.
While 28 days away from 39 years old, LeBron James had a flash of youth after a 360-degree layup over former teammate Jeff Green after spinning around a defender in the post.
“Fans got into it, crowd got into it and our bench got into it. Got us a technical, but we’ll take It,” LeBron said regarding his acrobatic layup.
LeBron finished with 16 points, seven assists, four rebounds, a steal and a block in 35 minutes.
20-year-old Max Christie made most of his minutes off the bench with a game-high +19 plus/minus. In 28 minutes off the bench, Christie tallied 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field with seven rebounds and two assists.
The Lakers will face the Phoenix Suns at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m. for the first game of the in-season tournament knockout round.
