Westbrook-less Rockets Throttle the LeBron-less Lakers

Well, if anyone ever asked which player, Anthony Davis or James Harden, is better, you may have just gotten your answer.

James Harden had an absolutely phenomenal game against the Lakers. In the 36 minutes he played, Harden scored 39 points on 11-19 shooting and 5-10 from deep. He came very close to a triple-double with 39 points, 12 assists, and 8 rebounds. He also came close to a quadruple-double if you look at his 9 turnovers as well.

The Rockets are now 3-1 since entering the bubble and are now holding the #4-seed, meaning they can get home-court advantage.

This win showed the NBA world that the Rockets are ready for the playoffs.

“we’re very close. These first four games that we had, we’ve seen some really good teams.” Harden said on if he feels his team is close to where they want to be for the playoffs.

Along with Harden, Ben McLemore also scored 20 points on 7-13 shooting and 5-10 from deep.

The Rockets as a whole actually shot a solid 36.8% from deep, exploiting the holes in the Lakers’ zone defense.

The Lakers had themselves a horrible night, but Kyle Kuzma took advantage. Kuzma scored 21 points in the loss on 8-16 shooting. Anthony Davis was held to just 17 points.

“That’s the way we’re built,” Harden said. “Obviously we’re gonna give up some offensive rebounds, but I think our defense and our activeness, and then our shot-making ability covers up for that.”

The Rockets will next play the Kings at 9:00 on Sunday

The Lakers will next play the Pacers at 8:00 on Saturday