Well, the magic ran out last night for the Houston Rockets. After spending two games filling our hearts with the hope, the Rockets essentially laid an egg in Game 6, falling behind in the late first quarter after a somewhat decent start to the game, and they simply never got back into it.
The Lakers used a huge and demoralizing 27-3 run in the first half to essentially put the game away, and things just never got much better from there and ended Houston’s season early.
There’s not a ton to say about
this one, as the Rockets’ offense was simply outmtached early and had no answers for a suffocating Lakers defense. Houston shot just 35 percent overall and made only 5 threes on the night. They also lost the rebounding battle, illustrating how bad Houston was whipped in this one.
They were led by Amen Thompson with 18 points, 8 boards and 3 blocks, while Alperen Sengun added 17 points, 11 boards and 2 blocks. Tari Eason had 14, Reed Sheppard had 10 but shot a horrendous 4-for-19 from the field. Jabari Smith rounded out the starters with 9 points and 12 boards, but he shot just 3-for-11 after being one of Houston’s best players earlier in the series.
The Lakers were led by LeBron James with 28 and Rui Hachimura with 21.
The Rockets season is now over, and the team faces a myriad of questions about their future. There are major questions about Ime Udoka, Kevin Durant, Tari Eason, Sengun, Sheppard, and just about anything could potentially be on the table trade wise.
Of course, the Rockets were more decimated by injuries than just about anyone, with Fred VanVleet, Steven Adams, Durant all finishing the year in street clothes. They could also choose to just run it back, though I don’t think that’s the best move with the Rockets losing in round one for the second straight year.
We’ll be talking all things offseason in a couple days after taking a few days to regroup ourselves. Thanks for sticking with us for another Rockets season!
