‘Left a lot on the table': Rockets lament shooting gap versus Lakers
'Left a lot on the table': Rockets lament shooting gap versus Lakers In a potentially costly loss to the Lakers, Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent made more 3-pointers combined (12) than Houston did as a team (10). Fred VanVleet missed 12 of his 14 shot attempts.
The Houston Rockets wrapped up a three-game road trip with Monday's 104-98 loss (box score) versus the Los Angeles Lakers.
Houston (49-27) remains at No. 2 in Western Conference standings after losing for just the second time in 14 games, though its margin for that second seed was reduced. The Lakers (46-29) are now 2.5 games back at No. 4, and the fate of a head-to-head tiebreaker versus the Rockets will depend on an April 11 rematch — also at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
The Rockets need one victory or one Memphis loss to secure a top-six seed — and with it, their first division title and NBA playoffs appearance in five years. The Grizzlies (44-31) host the Golden State Warriors (43-31) on Tuesday, while the Rockets host the Utah Jazz (16-60) on Wednesday.
As for Monday's game, which was the second night of a back-to-back after winning Sunday in Phoenix, key statistics included:
Amen Thompson: 20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks; 8-of-14 shooting (57.1%)
Jabari Smith Jr.: 15 points, 11 rebounds; 6-of-10 shooting (60.0%), 3-of-6 on 3-pointers (50.0%)
Alperen Sengun: 14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists; 5-of-11 shooting (45.5%), 4-of-4 on free throws
Jalen Green: 9 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists; 4-of-13 shooting (30.8%)
Dillon Brooks: 16 points, 5 rebounds; 5-of-14 shooting (35.7%), 3-of-9 on 3-pointers (33.3%)
Tari Eason: 13 points, 3 rebounds; 6-of-11 shooting (54.5%), 1-of-2 on 3-pointers (50.0%)
Fred VanVleet: 7 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds; 2-of-14 shooting (14.3%), 1-of-7 on 3-pointers (14.3%)
LeBron James (Lakers): 16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists; 5-of-12 shooting (41.7%)
Luka Doncic (Lakers): 20 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds; 6-of-16 shooting (37.5%), 1-of-7 on 3-pointers (14.3%)
Dorian Finney-Smith (Lakers): 20 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks +16 in 32 minutes; 6-of-11 on 3-pointers (54.5%)
Gabe Vincent (Lakers): 20 points, 4 rebounds; 6-of-13 on 3-pointers (46.2%)
The Rockets are now 7-10 on the second game of back-to-backs in the 2024-25 season. Fortunately, Houston does not have any more remaining.
Collectively, the difference between the teams on Monday night came down to 3-point shooting. Houston made 10-of-32 (31.3%) from distance, while the Lakers had both superior volume and accuracy at 16-of-46 (34.8%).
'The difference was a few of their guys made shots,' head coach Ime Udoka said. 'Some of our better shooters had off nights shooting, as well. So, we felt like we left a lot of things on the table.'
Houston committed extra resources to defend James and Doncic and dared players such as Finney-Smith and Vincent to make shots, and they did. On the other side, players such as VanVleet and Brooks struggled to make the Lakers pay for the additional attention paid to Green and Sengun.
March 31 Rockets-Lakers Complete Highlights
March 31 Postgame Reaction and Interviews
What's Next
Houston returns home for a two-game homestand at Toyota Center versus Utah (16-60) and Oklahoma City (63-12) on Wednesday and Friday nights, respectively. In something of a scheduling quirk, it'll be consecutive games against the last- and first-place teams in the West.
Tipoff of Rockets-Jazz is at 7:00 p.m. Central on Wednesday.
More: Rockets star Jalen Green wins yet another Western Conference Player of the Week award
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