HOUSTON — In the Lakers’ determination to replace Anthony Davis by committee, the committee underwhelmed.
What’s more, the team dropped a game against the Western Conference’s last-place squad in a stretch of the season when every loss hits twice as hard.
“It shouldn’t take anything like this for us to lock in and start from the jump like that,” Jarred Vanderbilt said. “Guys are pretty hurt about this loss, it’s a big loss for us.”
Wednesday night’s 114-110 defeat to the Houston Rockets could haunt the Lakers in the weeks to come if they find themselves on the wrong end of a top-six playoff seed – or worse. Taking caution by resting their elite big man, the Lakers entered the night with only one true center, Wenyen Gabriel, and the void in the middle was glaring.
They were outscored 78-46 in the paint, 20-10 in second-chance points, and outrebounded by 15. It took a half for their defense, which began without any center at all, to find its footing – particularly against Kevin Porter Jr., who had a game-high 27 points on 11-for-17 shooting.
In the end, it looked closer than it really was: The Lakers might have had a stunning opportunity to inbound for a tie with less than a second remaining if Austin Reaves, who scored a team-high 24 points, hadn’t missed one of his final free throws. But even if he had made both shots, Reaves admitted: “I don’t think it’s physically possible to get a shot in 0.3 (seconds).”
In reality, the Lakers were chasing the Rockets all night and shooting 37.8% overall and 11 for 44 from 3-point range didn’t help much. The only way they kept up was with free throws, shooting 31 for 37 from the line. Reaves and Dennis Schröder combined for 25 of the attempts themselves, more than the 19 the entire Rockets team managed all night.
In the loss, the Lakers maintained their 10-seed position, but their margin fell to just a half-game ahead of New Orleans and Utah just behind them. The Lakers also failed, for the second time in their past three games, to reach .500 for the first time this season – a mark that might signify battling uphill from a 2-10 start and out of a losing record, if only they could reach it.
Coach Darvin Ham criticized his team’s effort, which he thought sagged in the first half as the Rockets, already eliminated from the playoffs, were able to dictate the flow of the game.
“You can throw all of that out: rotations, coverages,” he said. “Sometimes it just comes down to individuals performing and guys being locked in, once again, and understanding the circumstances and being ready to play.”
The defeat is sure to keep pressure on the franchise, which rested Davis as part of a medical strategy to keep him from aggravating his right foot stress reaction. Davis called the situation “frustrating” on Tuesday, acknowledging that every game counts in a standings chase that has so far refused to provide much clarity for the nine Western Conference teams that are constantly swapping seats.
The Lakers have an open roster spot and have worked out a handful of big men throughout the season, but they haven’t signed anyone despite Davis’ management strategy and deadline acquisition Mo Bamba’s ankle sprain. It suggests a lack of impact centers on the market, but Ham also added pregame: “You really have to be careful because you can add something that sorta throws your ecosystem out of whack, and you don’t want to do that either.”
The Lakers started with Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura both in the starting lineup, pledging to replace Davis “by committee” with a smaller lineup. But instead of the two forwards combining to replace Davis’ production, the Lakers’ early possessions looked more like they had no center at all.
On back-to-back early possessions, the Rockets got the ball to center Alperen Segun: first, he drove to his right to shoot a hook over Hachimura; on the second, he drove to his left for an easy dump-off pass for a dunk. That set the tone for a toothless defensive start from the Lakers that allowed the Rockets to make eight of their first 11 shots.
Quickly, the Lakers were forced to double onto Segun to keep him from easy attacks to the rim. But the Rockets kept penetrating, taking all 35 of their first-half 2-point attempts in the paint. By the end of the first half, the Rockets had 48 points in the paint – more than they had scored in any half against any opponent this season.
“That’s unacceptable,” Vanderbilt said. “Especially a team like that, we gotta protect the paint first and worry about shooters later.”
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As outsized as some of the Rockets’ paint and rebounding advantages became, they never led by more than 18 points and much of the second half was within reach for the Lakers, who made up for the gap at the free-throw line. Starting Gabriel in the second half, they held the Rockets to 21 points in the third quarter, but they never whittled it to a single-possession game.
It stood in such contrast to a romp of a victory over New Orleans the night before: The Lakers had started out blazing with 15 first-half 3-pointers against the Pelicans, and in Houston, they had 11 all night at great labor. Malik Beasley and D’Angelo Russell combined to go just 11 for 34 from the floor, and the Lakers said their shaky shooting start bled into their defensive effort.
Now there are only 12 games remaining. Starting with a wilting Dallas Mavericks squad on Friday, the Lakers have a five-game homestand that can help boost their postseason hopes – or sink them. The key, Ham said, is they have to play with a do-or-die edge.
“Would I rather have a sound and secure spot in the postseason? Yeah. Who wouldn’t?” Ham said. “But our circumstances are what they are. And no way in hell am I going to feel sorry for myself and start looking over my shoulder at what coulda, shoulda, woulda been or whatever the hell … No. It is what it is.”
“It’s a back-to-back, there’s no excuse everybody has those in the league…we, as players gotta do better.” Austin Reaves feels the pressure and knows every game is a must-win from now on. pic.twitter.com/mLhFNnzfyn
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 16, 2023
“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 5-game home stay.” Darvin Ham with his takeaways from the game tonight and look ahead to Friday’s game against the Mavs. pic.twitter.com/IUIUJXWRYH
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 16, 2023