Gm 24 - 12/07/16: Lakers at Rockets GAME THREAD

[KobeMVP888]

(10-13) at (14-7)

Wednesday, December 7, 2016, 5:00 PM PDT
Toyota Center, Houston, TX

Referees: Rodney Mott (#71), Derrick Collins (#11), Pat Fraher (#26)

Line: Rockets -12.5





GAME PREVIEW: LAKERS AT ROCKETS

BY NBA.COM

HOUSTON -- Lakers center Tarik Black on Monday night added his name to a long list of wounded rotation players whose absence is undermining the promise that marked the first few weeks of this season in Los Angeles.

Black suffered an ankle sprain in a 107-101 home loss to the Utah Jazz, increasing the number of sidelined rotation players to five for the Lakers (10-13). Relatedly, the Lakers have dropped three consecutive games, four of six and six of eight as they ready for their second meeting with the Rockets on Wednesday night at Toyota Center.

When the Lakers topped the Rockets at Staples Center on Oct. 26, it seemed to mark the start of something surprising. But one by one, the Lakers have succumbed to injuries, with Black following guards D'Angelo Russell (left knee), Jose Calderon (right hamstring) and Nick Young (calf) and forward Larry Nance Jr. (right knee) to the injured list. The Lakers' momentum has suffered in lockstep with the lost bodies.

"Just continue to play, continue to work," Lakers guard Lou Williams said. "It's still early in the season. We've hit a little turbulence right now and hit a little rough patch. We've got to have other guys step in and we've got to continue to compete."

The Lakers were forced to utilize a patchwork lineup against the Jazz, starting rookie forward Brandon Ingram at point guard. The experimentation was borne out of necessity and strategy, with the Lakers attempting to employ a personnel package capable of switching everything defensively. A similar gambit might be required against the Rockets, whose pick-and-roll proficiency has yielded the third-ranked offense in the NBA.

For Ingram, opportunities abound with Russell and Calderon unavailable.

"It's great for him. It's absolutely great for him," Lakers coach Luke Walton said. "To be able to call plays and bring the ball up and play from that position whether he struggles or has a good game, it's still great learning opportunities and experience for him."

The Rockets (14-7) thought they'd been made whole with the news that the front office had matched the Brooklyn Nets' offer sheet for restricted free agent forward-center Donatas Motiejunas, at least until his agent -- former Bulls guard B.J. Armstrong -- declared Tuesday that Motiejunas would not show for his mandatory physical.

Assuming that the issue is resolved, Motiejunas provides the Rockets something they've lacked in his absence: A big who can pass and help facilitate their offense. Motiejunas posted a career-high 12.2 assist rate last season. Currently, second-year forward-center Montrezl Harrell leads all Houston big men with an 8.0 assist rate.

"That's where he'll fit in," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. "He will move the ball a lot. Most of our guys move it toward the rim, which is good. I like that. It's hard to get into specifics with what he can do because he's not with the team but his role will be a good one. He knows how to play so I can't see why it would be anything but positive."

Added Rockets guard James Harden on what Motiejunas brings to the table: "His passing. He's versatile. He's smart, playmaking. He's not one-dimensional. Hopefully he can get acclimated in our system and be ready to go."

http://www.nba.com/games/20161207/LALHOU#/preview

[3Peatkb24]

3Peat checking in, tough game tonight. Houston usually scores a lot of points, we beat them once already but that was in LA. Should be a high scoring game.

[KobeMVP888]

It is so frustrating watching Julius Randle get abused in the paint and the refs ignoring the contact as he misses close in shots that were altered because he was fouled. So he's a young player, so what. Hopefully, Luke will bring this to attention of the league office. All you have to do is breathe on James Harden and he gets the calls.

How about Lou Williams 70 foot heave at the buzzer at halftime though!

[lakerevolution]

Hey guys - been MIA for a couple days, was going thru some wireless service changes at home and got a new phone - and of course promptly forgot all my usernames and passwords for stuff so I couldn't post on the fly. A couple tough late losses hasn't diminished the NBA world's opinion that we are a team on the rise, but without the continuity that health provides, we are kind of in limbo right now. It's cool - Luke has to cut his teeth on this type of adversity, and if we can get back to/hover around .500 when healthy then no Laker fan should be GHE.

[lakerevolution]

Yikes, this one is getting waaaaay outta hand. D'Antoni is getting his revenge!

[lakerevolution]

Yikes. Stick a fork in 'em!!!

[3Peatkb24]

Yeah this is ugly at 100-75 late in the 3rd Qtr but we are so short handed. These recent injuries have really killed our mojo. I think Randle has played well with 17/8 so far and Sweet Lou has 24 so far but this game is over. We will be 10-14 after tonight and on a 4 game losing streak.

[Lakers4Life]

Ugggh!! They're kicking our ass!!

[KobeMVP888]

I turned it off early in the third quarter. We need to get healthy because we're too young of a team to be able to successfully absorb injuries like this. This zig zagging across the country for 6 games was utter bullshit, too. Oh well. Another flushable game. Nothing good comes from games like this.

[3Peatkb24]

I turned it off early in the third quarter. We need to get healthy because we're too young of a team to be able to successfully absorb injuries like this. This zig zagging across the country for 6 games was utter bullshit, too. Oh well. Another flushable game. Nothing good comes from games like this.

We need Russell back and Nick Young. Both injuries took away a lot of fire power we have. Being a young team it's tough enough to win games but without key players it's impossible. Lou Williams cant do it all by himself and it's better when Clarkson comes off the bench. This was real ugly tonight. Houston is now 15-7 and I am not so sure they aren't a Top 5 team in the West anyway. MDA is the perfect Coach for Harden and that 3 point shooting team.

[Julius Russell]

Looking more like shot without our Cash bros.