Rockets Race Past Lakers 139-130, in OT Thriller
The Rookie Game. LeHelpless. Home Cooking.
There’s always a different feeling in the air when LeBron James is in the building. And on Wednesday night, with one of the largest crowds of the season, Toyota Center was rocking. The Rockets fed off that energy en route to a thrilling 139-130 victory over the Lakers in overtime. Jalen Green had the best game of his young career. Green scored a career-high 32 points on an efficient 13-for-21 shooting, and was aggressive from the opening tip. Alperen Sengun also had his best outing in the NBA. Sengun played 40 minutes, and registered a dominant 21-point, 14-rebound double-double for the evening. Sengun complimented that effort with 2 blocks, 2 steals, and 2 assists for good measure. Josh Christopher had an excellent performance as well to round out Houston’s impressive rookie trio. Christopher scored 21 points, as the Rockets became only the second team in NBA history to have 3 players aged 20 years or younger score at least 20 points in a game. Houston’s top 3 rookies combined for an impressive 74 points, more than half the team’s total scoring output.
It wasn’t just the rooks who showed up for the Rockets. The squad had 7 players score in double-figures, with 6 guys getting at least 15 points. K.J. Martin had another solid performance, scoring 17 points and grabbing an impressive 11 rebounds. K-Mart has quietly been consistently one of Houston’s best players since the All-Star break. Eric Gordon added 15 points, the highlight of which was a fake on LeBron James that sent the King in a circle searching for his crown, preceding an EG bucket from distance.
Only the winless Portland Trail Blazers have a worse record than the Los Angeles Lakers since the All-Star break. Despite getting 30 points from Russell Westbrook, LeBron James simply doesn’t have the requisite help needed in L.A. to get the job done and string wins together. You can’t blame Houston’s victory over the Lakers on LeBron. At age 37, James played 45 minutes, securing another triple-double in his storied career with 23 points, 14 rebounds, and 12 assists. But it wasn’t enough. He passed up the potential game-winning layup at the end of regulation to an open Carmelo Anthony, who missed the shot. The rest was history, as the Rockets scored the first 13 points of overtime, sealing their second straight win at home. In the postgame interview, Green said Houston’s goal was to target Melo on defense and it worked. Green and the Rockets went at the future Hall-of-Famer, and were successful in the extra period.
Up next, Houston hosts their in-state rivals, the Dallas Mavericks, on Friday night. The Rockets have now won two straight games at Toyota Center, and haven’t lost in regulation at home in the past three times (that OT-loss to Utah still stings). Houston will look to keep the home momentum going as they’ll face a better Mavericks team than the Lakers squad they beat on Wednesday. But if the Rockets can keep that positive energy in the air at Toyota Center… they have a good chance to pull the upset on Friday night.
