The Lakers lost to the Rockets 112-97 to trail 1-0 in their Western Conference semifinals playoff series and Lakers star LeBron James has blamed the number of turnovers for the loss.
LeBron James committed 4 turnovers in the game, which tied returning Rajon Rondo for the most on the team.
James Harden led with 36 points which was just a slice of the overall tremendous performance by the team. LeBron James and his teammates put in a disastrous show on both ends; offensively and defensively.
Lakers superstar LeBron James underlined the big discrepancy in points off turnovers as a huge reason to the Game 1 loss.
“We can’t turn the ball over like that. That starts with myself,” James said after the game.
Not only did James have the turnovers, but Rondo was rusty in his first game in action since March. He was 3-of-9 shooting for a mere eight points.
3⃣6⃣ PTS for @JHarden13 in the @HoustonRockets Game 1 W! #NBAPlayoffs
Game 2 ⏩ Sun. (9/6) at 8:30pm/et on ABC pic.twitter.com/a2fdubEn2s
— NBA (@NBA) September 5, 2020
James and Lakers trail early in the series
The game was decided in the last quarter when the Rockets stretched a six-point lead and turned a competitive contest into an easy win.
Although James shot well, he scored just 20 points. The Lakers will certainly need more offense from him to get past the Rockets and reach the finals and aim to win their first NBA title since 2010.
Houston Rockets, popularly known as an ‘offensively dominating’ team, made quite a defensive impression against the top-seeded Lakers. While Harden was scoring at the offensive end at will, PJ Tucker was impressive in defending LeBron James to a mere 20 points in the game.
The former Cleveland Cavaliers ace was shooting just 7/15 from the field and less than 30% from beyond the arc. Moreover, he scored none in the last quarter leading to an opening game loss.
At the other end, the Rockets’ dogged, tough, switching team defense created turnovers (17.0 per game in the postseason, first in the NBA) and have impressed consistently in the NBA bubble in Orlando.
Game 1 was an example of the way the Rockets’ strengths can cause havoc in the Lakers team. Harden and Westbrook penetrated and converted at will and created easy buckets for the entire team while P.J. Tucker and Robert Covington led a resilient and stiff defensive effort that forced the Lakers into difficult shots.
The Lakers lost Game 1 against Portland TrailBlazers and bounced back winning the next 4 games. One loss would be a huge wake-up call to Frank Vogel and his men, but the Lakers are going to need to make adjustments — and improve their shooting accuracy as the Rockets are high on confidence, narrowly winning in 7 against Oklahoma City Thunder.
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