Lakers player grades: L.A. defeats Rockets again, wins season series
The Lakers are starting to look like their best selves, and they notched another road win over the Rockets on Wednesday.
Due to a quirk in the NBA's scheduling this season, the Los Angeles Lakers visited the Houston Rockets for back-to-back games on Monday and Wednesday. They won Monday's matchup 100-92 , and on Wednesday, they looked to take the season series and strengthen their hold on the third spot in the Western Conference. They ended the first quarter on an 11-2 run, and they went into halftime looking good with a 67-55 lead.
They did a good job capitalizing on the Rockets' misses and turnovers, which resulted in them scoring 16 fast-break points in the first half. But Houston outscored the Lakers 18-5 to start the third quarter and took the lead with 7:30 to go in the period, and from there, this contest was a back-and-forth affair. After going up 102-96 with 8:40 left in the fourth quarter, Los Angeles fell behind 109-107, only to respond with a 13-2 run in crunch time to put this contest away.
It earned a 124-116 win, which was its seventh win in a row and its 10th victory in its last 11 games. The team shot an impressive 60. 5% from the field and 46.
9% from 3-point range, in contrast to Monday's grind fest when it was just 44% overall and 23. 5% from beyond the arc. Defensively, the Lakers did a solid job of containing Kevin Durant once again.
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