There’s no way that the 10th-ranked Leakers’ recent game didn’t leave their fans feeling down. Darvin Ham, head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, was likewise not optimistic about his team’s performance and was seen venting fury on the players.
The Los Angeles Lakers currently have a 34-35 record, going 18-16 at home and 16-19 away from home. The Lakers now have a point differential of -28, and based on that difference and their Pythagorean expectation, it is possible to predict that they will win around 33.7 games.
Darvin Ham and the Lakers vs the lowly Houston Rockets match highlight
In addition to Mo Bamba and Anthony Davis, the two players were not in this game, Ham had few choices in the middle because it was the Lakers’ third straight game without LeBron James due to a foot injury. In their last match, Darvin’s team faced a 114-110 setback to the Houston Rockets, a failure that might come back to haunt them in the upcoming Western Conference playoff battle.
“We don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves, we gotta go back and fill our cups up tomorrow and get ready to take advantage of a five-game homestand,” Darvin stated.
The Lakers’ offensive performance against the Rockets in this game was dismal, as they shot a combined 37.8% and 25% from the three-point range, looks like, they weren’t playing to win but rather to secure a flight home.
“When you struggle defensively and you’re playing against a set defense, the offense is going to struggle,” Ham said. “You’re not going to be able to be in a good rhythm.”
The Rockets easily got to the basket on eight out of their first eleven field goal attempts, but they were unable to maintain this performance until the very end. At the end of the game, Houston had nailed 52.8% of their field goal attempts and had outscored Los Angeles 78-46 in the paint.
Kevin Porter Jr. had an outstanding performance, leading the Thunder to win by scoring 27 points, grabbing 9 rebounds, and dishing out 6 assists.
“I’ve said it before: Energy, effort, and urgency,” noted Ham. “And I thought coming out of the gates, that kind of was non-existent. … I saw it on (Houston’s) part. We should have been the ones playing with that type of edge. … There is no excuses.”
The Lakers defeated the Rockets by a score of 140 to 132 in their most recent matchup, with LeBron James serving as their quarterback and contributing 48 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists. This matchup took place during the regular season.
