Houston dominates the glass and hands Los Angeles its third straight loss as Austin Reaves leaves at halftime and faces further evaluation
The Lakers’ Christmas Day matchup never found a rhythm and unraveled quickly in a 119-96 loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night, their third straight defeat.
The Lakers were already struggling when guard Austin Reaves was ruled out for the second half with left calf soreness. Reaves had returned earlier in the week after missing time with a mild calf strain and logged 22 minutes Tuesday against Phoenix. He is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Friday, according to ESPN.
Without him, the Lakers could not keep pace. Luka Dončić led Los Angeles with 25 points and LeBron James with 18, but Houston steadily pulled away behind balanced scoring and control of the boards. Amen Thompson finished with 26 points to lead the Rockets, whose entire starting lineup scored at least 13 points and posted plus-minus ratings of plus-23 or better.
Houston dominated the glass from the opening tip, outrebounding the Lakers 48-25 and collecting 17 offensive rebounds. Center Alperen Şengün led the way with 12 rebounds, including three on the offensive end, as second-chance points continued to pile up.
After the game, Lakers coach JJ Redick offered a blunt assessment of his team’s performance.
“Tonight we were a terrible basketball team,” Redick said. “And that started legitimately right away.”
Scroll to continue reading
Defense has been a season-long issue for Los Angeles, which entered the game allowing 117.4 points per contest. That trend continued as the Rockets consistently beat the Lakers to loose balls and controlled the tempo.
Reaves’ absence was notable. He entered Christmas ranked 11th in the NBA in scoring at 27.3 points per game, and his status moving forward remains uncertain pending imaging results.
The Lakers will try to regroup Sunday night when they host the Sacramento Kings at 6:30 p.m. PT.