Houston, Texas– Late in the second quarter, LeBron James caught a pass from Markieff Morris wide open in the corner. He hesitated slightly, allowing Ben McLemore to close out and challenge the shot. James still let it fly, and as it floated towards the basket, he turned to face his bench, in Steph Curry fashion, to celebrate as the shot dropped.
James and the Los Angeles Lakers (9-3) showed this confidence from start to finish in a blowout victory over the Houston Rockets (3-6), 117-100, in their second straight win over Houston.
The Lakers held the Rockets to 14 points in the first as they opened up a 21-point lead and never looked back. Their 71-point halftime total was a season-high.
The Rockets shot 6/21 (28.6%) in the quarter with their stars, James Harden and Christian Wood, both contained. The two combined for 10 points on 4/13 shooting in the quarter.
LeBron shakes off a rough shooting performance on Sunday with a dominant showing
In the matchup between these two teams on Sunday, James was held to 18 points and shot just 1/6 from three. He came out determined to shake off his shooting struggles, and he delivered.
James shot with confidence early and often, especially from three. He finished the first half with 22 points, shooting 9/14 from the field and 4/6 from three, and almost single-handedly built the Lakers to 20+. He finished with 26 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists.
In year 18 and at age 36, James is still showing no signs of slowing. James finds himself firmly in the MVP hunt again with the Lakers touting the NBA’s best record.
Anthony Davis gets the better of his matchup with Christian Wood
NBA fans have been excited about the recent success of Rockets forward Christian Wood. Coming into the game, Wood had scored at least 20 points in every game this season.
Matching up with Anthony Davis would prove to be a bigger test, but Wood was not intimidated by the 4-time All-NBA star. He said pregame that he enjoyed his battles with Anthony Davis in the past.
“Facing AD was a matchup that I love, me and him have going back and forth with each other for about two years now. He’s a guy I’ve watched numerous times and a guy I am going to keep
watch and he is going to keep making me better and I am going to keep making him better. It was a fun matchup between me and him,” said Wood.
Davis and the Lakers were able to force Wood into bad shots and contested threes, but Wood was still able to make an impact. Wood finished with 18 points as his 20-point game streak came to an end. Davis did not struggle to find his shot in the same way and success in his post matchups with Wood. He finished with 19 points on 7/8 from the field.
UP NEXT
LA Lakers vs. OKC Thunder on Wednesday, January 13
Houston Rockets vs. San Antonio Spurs on Thursday, January 14
