WCSF: (1) Los Angeles Lakers vs (4) Houston Rockets, Part 1 | Series Tied 1-1

[hoosierdaddy34]

Alright the last two pages were embarrassing, really Dwight Howard lol

Which part was embarrassing? The fact the league shot just 37% in ISO situations against Dwight this year? Or the fact they shot 32% in spot up situations against him? Or is it really just your basketball knowledge led to this comment that is embarrassing? The first two point to the latter.

My bad you got me Dwight will blow up anything harden tries

Actually he will never get switched onto him because the Lakers don’t switch bigs, except AD obviously. They hedge and recover.

But when teams have gone small, 5 out, Dwight is generally able to find a favorable matchup and has been extremely successful within those matchups. In this series, Dwight isn’t going to struggle guarding a dude like PJ Tucker or Jeff Green outside.

[bb22]

I'm astounded how bad Adams was and he still gave HOU some trouble.

YES! Glad you said that. Just flat out awful. I love the guy but he just seemed so out of it.

Lakers’ bigs are just different. AD is nothing close to a traditional “big”. And even McGee and Dwight are freak athletes who can recover well and protect the paint, so it’s a different story. Will still be hard to play big lineups against the rockets, but the superstar effect is strongly in the Lakers’ favour.

[bb22]

Here is more stats that Rocket fans may not like...since I keep hearing 3 is worth more than 2.

The Rockets shot 34.9% from 3 this year. The Lakers defense gives up a 3 point % of also 34.9%. 34.9% is equivalent to just under 52.5% on 2 point shots.

The Lakers shoot 56% on 2 point shots. The Rockets give up 54.1% on 2 point shots.

That’s some bad math for the Rockets.

The Lakers are not going to defend the 3pt line that well when they have to worry about all 5 guys shooting them. It's not remotely the same to the usual two maybe three guys on the court at one time.

The way the rockets have been shooting, I’m not sure they’re “worried” at all.

[G35]

This series is only interesting from the standpoint of how well Harden plays because of his playoff history. Will he be able to take over the game offensively and force mismatches etc...other than that the Rockets have no answer for Lebron or AD and they will likely wear them down every game. The only outlier is if the Rockets happen to hit on 40-50% of their 3's in a game...this series goes five at most especially if the Clippers handle the Nuggets in four or five games. The Lakers do not want to face a rested Clippers team messing around with the Rockets......

[gmoney411]

This series is only interesting from the standpoint of how well Harden plays because of his playoff history. Will he be able to take over the game offensively and force mismatches etc...other than that the Rockets have no answer for Lebron or AD and they will likely wear them down every game. The only outlier is if the Rockets happen to hit on 40-50% of their 3's in a game...this series goes five at most especially if the Clippers handle the Nuggets in four or five games. The Lakers do not want to face a rested Clippers team messing around with the Rockets......

It doesn't even take 40-50%. Any game the Rockets shoot over 37% will likely be a close game.

[MrCheerios]

It's a battle of basketball philosophies. Couldn't ask for a better matchup. Maybe a more interesting matchup would have been this Rockets vs Grit n Grind Grizzlies, but this is closer in terms of talent level. I think Lakers have it in 6.

[Blaze4G]

Rockets in 6. They will shoot much better this series. Their defense is also underrated.

[xinxin]

Lakers in 5. Maybe even 4.


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[JoeyLightYears]

It is almost impossible to predict Rocket series due to their high variance game. If they hit their threes in 4 games then they can beat anybody. It is an uphill battle scoring 2 vs 3 so you are forced to play their game which can backfire if your team isn’t used to launching 50 threes a game.

[LEGOATGM]

Lakers in 5, it is comical how bad Hou are in closing series out. They are never convincing, and Westbrook will always have 2/3 bad games you cannot win like that.

[trickshot]

I'm astounded how bad Adams was and he still gave HOU some trouble.

YES! Glad you said that. Just flat out awful. I love the guy but he just seemed so out of it.

Lakers’ bigs are just different. AD is nothing close to a traditional “big”. And even McGee and Dwight are freak athletes who can recover well and protect the paint, so it’s a different story. Will still be hard to play big lineups against the rockets, but the superstar effect is strongly in the Lakers’ favour.

Javale Mcgee has got nothing for the Rockets. He will give up many 3s and get beaten off the dribble repeatedly. His defense just isnt anything above average enough

[dribble1614]

How about someone change the title thread to accurately reflect the Rockets’ seeding.

Rockets (4) seed not (5).

[PistolPeteJR]

Just keep in mind that only team that has defeated this Rockets team were the mighty Warriors and even they struggled.

1) Different Rockets team (eg. Paul instead of Westbrook). And this is actually a worse team.

2) Not all matchups are created equal.

[yoyoboy]

Just keep in mind that only team that has defeated this Rockets team were the mighty Warriors and even they struggled.

No Paul
No Capela
Older Tucker

The 2018 and 2019 Rockets would not have barely scraped by in 7 games against that Thunder team.

[GregOden]

This entire series depends on Russell Westbrook. If he acts as a playmaker and doesn't shoot too much, they have a chance. I think the Lakers will try to have him score as much as possible so they end of up taking a bunch of midrange shots or out of control Westbrook layup attempts.

[yoyoboy]

My bet is Lakers get punched in the mouth Game 1 and lose by like 10. Then they adjust and wrap up the series in 6 games.

[iamworthy]

My bet is Lakers get punched in the mouth Game 1 and lose by like 10. Then they adjust and wrap up the series in 6 games.

Agree. Wouldn't be surprised if we are down by 20 at some point.

[evilpimp972]

This entire series depends on Russell Westbrook. If he acts as a playmaker and doesn't shoot too much, they have a chance. I think the Lakers will try to have him score as much as possible so they end of up taking a bunch of midrange shots or out of control Westbrook layup attempts.

In the RS and since they went small full time Westbrook has been amazing in the midrange, he won the game for them back in February. He's the key if he's hitting his midrange pull up. If not...

[kobe_vs_jordan]

My bet is Lakers get punched in the mouth Game 1 and lose by like 10. Then they adjust and wrap up the series in 6 games.

Agree. Wouldn't be surprised if we are down by 20 at some point.

It wouldn’t be lakers basketball any other way.

[Young Stapler]

My bet is Lakers get punched in the mouth Game 1 and lose by like 10. Then they adjust and wrap up the series in 6 games.

Agree. Wouldn't be surprised if we are down by 20 at some point.

It wouldn’t be lakers basketball any other way.

I'm told yoyoboy's account was hacked and that yoyo actually believes Lebron will put it in work tonight