HOUSTON — With the Los Angeles Lakers rallying and the shot clock dwindling, LeBron James and Dorian Finney-Smith swarmed Jalen Green near the right corner and forced him into a buzzer-beating heave.
As the ball traveled through the air, Anthony Davis stretched his arm back to box out Alperen Şengün. Austin Reaves, already underneath the basket, battled Fred VanVleet for positioning.
And then out of nowhere, Amen Thompson skied in from the weak side for a tip dunk on the air ball.
AMEN CLIMBING THE LADDER 🪜 pic.twitter.com/Es0egbJ8ji
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) January 6, 2025
The awe-inspiring finish epitomized the difference between the Lakers and Rockets in Houston’s 119-115 win Sunday. The Rockets leveraged their athleticism, speed and length advantages into leading by as many as 22 points in the first half and 18 points at halftime. They could always reach slightly higher than the Lakers could.
But unlike blowout losses in Miami and Minnesota last month, the Lakers didn’t roll over in the second half. They outscored Houston 66-52 after intermission and were within two points a couple of times in the fourth quarter. That, from their viewpoint, was a small improvement in the loss.
“I applaud and acknowledge the fight and the toughness to get back into the game,” coach JJ Redick said. “I think that’s been indicative of the spirit we’ve had now since the Miami game. I’m proud of the group for that.”
The Lakers had their chances late to pull off a remarkable comeback and failed to capitalize. On a sideline out-of-bounds play, trailing by two points with 7.1 seconds remaining, Max Christie threw a pass toward James that VanVleet intercepted. James had signaled for a timeout before the ball was inbounded, but the timeout wasn’t called.
Then, down by four with a few seconds left, Davis was called for an offensive foul against Aaron Holiday. Right before the call, James swished in a 3-pointer created from the space from the screen.
“That’s not the reason why we lost the game, obviously,” Davis said. “The game was lost in the first half.”
It was hard to ignore the athleticism and physicality gap between the two teams. Green, Thompson and Cam Whitmore soared past Lakers defenders in the half court and transition. Steven Adams, a real-life oak tree, bulldozed Davis, Jaxson Hayes and any Laker in his way. Even the diminutive VanVleet proved too much of a blur for Los Angeles on the perimeter.
For the game, Houston out-rebounded the Lakers (49-39 overall, 18-10 on the offensive glass), dominated them in second-chance points (28-8), scored more in the paint and in transition, and attempted 21 more shots.
“Our inability to get defensive rebounds was the difference in the game,” Redick said matter-of-factly to open his postgame news conference.
This isn’t the first time the Lakers have been physically and athletically overwhelmed by an opponent. Losses to Minnesota (twice), Detroit (twice), Orlando, Atlanta, Memphis and now Houston underscore the group’s limitations against teams with size and athleticism, particularly in the frontcourt.
The only way around that disadvantage is through “game-plan discipline,” as Redick calls it. The Lakers have to play mistake-free basketball and out-execute their opponents, especially against those teams younger and quicker than them (which, frankly, is most opponents).
They have done a better job lately, but there is still significant room for improvement on their self-proclaimed path to becoming a “great” team.
“I want to be a great team, but it takes some things that may get uncomfortable out there,” James said. “We’ve got to do a little bit more, be a little bit more gritty, make more plays, not have so many breakdowns. … We’ve just got to be a lot better.”
Los Angeles’ trade for Finney-Smith has improved its ability to compete against these types of teams. Redick began using Finney-Smith as a safety blanket in the second half against Houston, inserting him for Rui Hachimura less than a minute after halftime and once again in the early fourth to go smaller and replace Hayes. Finney-Smith closed the game alongside the other four starters, with Hachimura on the bench.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Redick opts to start Finney-Smith in Hachimura’s place sooner than later. Finney-Smith has outplayed Hachimura since arriving in Los Angeles and provides better two-way balance now that he’s beginning to look more comfortable offensively. He scored 13 points, his most as a Laker, drilling two 3s and scoring on three drives to the rim, including a crucial and-1 late.
“He’s great,” Christie said of Finney-Smith. “He’s a big communicator for us on defense, especially, which is good. He brings a lot of energy. He was knocking down shots (Sunday). He was aggressive towards the rim, too, when he got running off the line. … He’s a great addition, for sure.”
Potentially getting Jarred Vanderbilt back soon also should help the team. Redick said Vanderbilt — who hasn’t played since last February because of foot and knee injuries — is making “real” progress and ramping up toward on-court activity. If he replaces Cam Reddish, and even eats into the minutes of Finney-Smith or Hachimura depending on the matchup, the Lakers should benefit from an influx of athleticism, length, energy and defense.
Longer term, the Lakers (20-15) still need to make a trade or two to try addressing weaknesses. There are two ways to make up the deficit: add more athleticism or add more size/length. The former path is probably more effective, but the latter might be easier given the Lakers’ prior success playing bigger lineups around Davis and James in 2020 and even 2021. The Lakers continue to evaluate this group and want to see what they look like healthy before determining which roster need is greatest.
The Lakers entered Sunday only two games back of the Rockets (23-12). They had a chance to shrink that gap and position themselves to jump into the Western Conference’s top three seeds.
The Lakers close their two-game Texas trip in Dallas on Tuesday against the Luka Dončić-less Mavericks. In the past, that would be a trap game for the Lakers, who have a recent history of playing down to their competition. But Davis called it a “must-win” — the term he uses once or twice a season — signaling a higher level of urgency for the Lakers coming off Sunday’s loss.
“Just because (Luka) isn’t available doesn’t mean that we should take them lightly,” Davis said. “We’ll be ready to play these guys. We definitely need to win. We can’t lose both of these games. It’s going to be a must-win for us, and we have to come in with the right mindset.”
(Photo of Amen Thompson: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
