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

[Roscoe Sheed]

I think the Rox match up well with the Lakers and the crazy thing is that they matchup even better with the Clips, imo. Lakers fans might say its just one game, but damn, the Rox small ball defense has given them a lot of trouble 3 times now. And they play extremely against big forwards like Lebron,AD,Kawhi,PG. Morey and Dantoni gonna go from laughing stock in the first round to geniuses when they make the finals

If Houston were to play the clippers in the next round they would have a chance- any time you have harden you have a chance especially with the random nature of the 3 point shot, but they don’t match up great with the clippers. The clippers blew them out in Houston. The clippers have a lot of bodies to throw at harden and they have the shooting to keep up as well- they probably have a better small ball line up than the rockets do actually

[Roscoe Sheed]

Why doesn’t Quinn Cook play more. He is a very good shooter and could help space the floor

[mademan]

I think the Rox match up well with the Lakers and the crazy thing is that they matchup even better with the Clips, imo. Lakers fans might say its just one game, but damn, the Rox small ball defense has given them a lot of trouble 3 times now. And they play extremely against big forwards like Lebron,AD,Kawhi,PG. Morey and Dantoni gonna go from laughing stock in the first round to geniuses when they make the finals

If Houston were to play the clippers in the next round they would have a chance- any time you have harden you have a chance especially with the random nature of the 3 point shot, but they don’t match up great with the clippers. The clippers blew them out in Houston. The clippers have a lot of bodies to throw at harden and they have the shooting to keep up as well- they probably have a better small ball line up than the rockets do actually

eh. Any team is gonna blow out the Rox when they the Rox shoot 17% from 3 on high volume. The Rox defense is built for big wings, and its one of the reasons they play the Lakers so well. AD isnt a big, he's just another big wing

[Alkaholic]

We will see what kind of heart the Lakers have in game 2! Put up or shut up time, no excuses

It’s not an issue of “heart” though. It’s so lazy that people always have to pin losses on heart, effort, killer instinct, and other intangible things to fit a narrative. LeBron and AD could give their best efforts of their careers but if Houston is able to pack the paint with 4-5 guys at a time it literally doesn’t matter at all. You need spacing in the modern NBA and the only way that’s going to happen against this Houston micro ball lineup is if the Lakers play to their strengths by going big (McGee and Dwight give spacing by being lob threats) and not playing Rondo.

You cant play big centers against the rockets they will get isolated and picked on all day

[Yeggo Poleggo]

Backdoor sweep incoming.

[Clyde Frazier]

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i mean...

[Dupp]

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i mean...

Well that’s crazy. He needs to get the ball deeper and on the move. You can’t post PJ up

[GSP]

Why doesn’t Quinn Cook play more. He is a very good shooter and could help space the floor

lol Rockets live on hunting mismatches in pick and roll and isos

Quin Cook is as bad a defender as you can get from a guard. Hes a dumb defender and 6ft 170 to boot lol. Hes built like a Realgmer

[evilpimp972]

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i mean...

Well that’s crazy. He needs to get the ball deeper and on the move. You can’t post PJ up

If we're going to use AD in the post like it's some kind of big advantage we aren't winning 1 game ....
AD strength are facing up and on the move, he's never been, and never will be a post threat (because why the hell would he be? You can be ultra physical in the post but can't breathe on shooters, this is the nba now)

[djsunyc]

folks really need to put some respeck on dantoni's name. he has been a legit top 10 coach for 15+ years now.

[fbalmeida]

Top tier of teams I feared this year:

In decreasing order of threat:

Clippers, Celtics, and Bucks.

2nd tier of teams I feared this year:
Rockets and Heat

D'Antoni is a wizard.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Tucker, Gordon, Harden eat alot of donuts to prepare.

[Roscoe Sheed]

Why doesn’t Quinn Cook play more. He is a very good shooter and could help space the floor

lol Rockets live on hunting mismatches in pick and roll and isos

Quin Cook is as bad a defender as you can get from a guard

I didn’t watch the last game that carefully but it looked like Rondo couldn’t keep his man in front of him either and because he is a poor shooter they collapsed into the lane

[ICEibuPROfen]

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[yoyoboy]

If the Lakers play as much small ball as they did in Game 1 tonight this series is over. Give Dwight/McGee 40 total minutes between the two of them, play Rondo fewer than 10 minutes, stop posting up AD and actually use him on the move to get him easy inside position baskets where he can just out-length the Rockets instead of trying to out-strength PJ which won’t work, and use more minor off ball movement to not let Houston’s defenders off the hook for standing in the paint and leaving Green/KCP/Kuz wide open. Very obvious and necessary adjustments but I’m not at all confident in Vogel to make them after what he did in the first game.

[CptCrunch]

Rockets need to win by 10 to be even with the Lakers with Scott Foster reffing this game.

The Vegas lines moved after the refs were announced (in favor of the Lakers).

[Jkam31]

Lol Houston has no shot on to game 3

[Ferulci]

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[yoyoboy]

I’m sorry but I cannot take Rockets fans seriously complaining about how the refs might/could/well potentially screw them over. You have James Harden lmao.

[Benedict_Boozer]

Ewww Foster .... Rox fans you know what’s coming!