James Harden, Rockets smoke Lakers in Game 1 rout

In Game 1, James Harden and the Houston Rockets routed the Los Angeles Lakers.

James Harden and the Houston Rockets escaped Game 7 of their first-round NBA playoff series by the hairs of their chinny chin chins. In Game 1 of their second-round series, they left no doubt in blowing the Los Angeles Lakers‘ whole house down.

In at 15-point win Friday night, the benefits of the Rockets’ small-ball playing style proved to be a major advantage over the top-seeded Lakers, who tried to slow the game down and trade 2s for 3s to no avail. Houston only made three more 3-pointers in Game 1, but the Lakers struggled to contain Harden, Russell Westbrook (24 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists), Eric Gordon (23 points) and the rest of the Rockets’ wings.

Despite 25 points and 14 rebounds from Anthony Davis and 20 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists from LeBron James, the Lakers looked demoralized and disinterested in the fourth quarter, especially as the Rockets opened the final period on a 16-3 run to turn a close game into a blowout.

It’s only one game, but it looks like the Lakers have a tougher challenge on their hands than many expected after Houston’s first-round series went the distance.

What else did you miss in Game 1 between the Lakers and Rockets?

MVP: James Harden

The Beard had a terrible Game 7 on the offensive end, sparing his reputation with one of the biggest plays of his postseason career in the form of a game-saving block on Luguentz Dort.

Dort had tormented Harden with his incredible defense throughout that first-round series, but the Lakers don’t have anyone of Dort’s caliber who can stick with Harden defensively (especially without Avery Bradley). It showed in Game 1.

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Finishing the series opener with 36 points and 5 assists on 12-of-20 shooting, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range and 9-for-12 from the foul line, Harden decimated Los Angeles’ defense all night. He had 31 through three quarters before Houston put the game out of reach early in the fourth quarter, and coming off a bad offensive night in Game 7, this was exactly the kind of performance people needed to see.

No one is mistaking James Harden for a clutch playoff performer after one big block and a bounce-back night in Game 1 of a second-round series, but Harden has a chance to make a name for himself against the Lakers. In Game 1, he got off to a good start.

Meme-able moment: LeBron James bullying Russell Westbrook

When you put the world’s best basketball players on the court together, even the all-time greats are bound to get embarrassed from time to time. Sometimes it’s being on the wrong end of a vicious poster dunk. Sometimes it’s getting absolutely swatted at the rim. In Russell Westbrook’s case on Friday night, it was both.

First, the 35-year-old King absolutely DETONATED with a monster dunk over poor Russ, who was trying to take an ill-fated charge:

Then, when Russ felt James breathing down his neck on a fast break, he made the poor choice to try and put the ball up anyway. You could probably guess the result, but a two-handed pin against the backboard? That was particularly cruel:

And if that wasn’t enough, James took the vindictiveness to the next level with another chase-down block on Westbrook, this time from behind as the Rockets point guard was completely unaware of the incoming danger.

I mean, LeBron outright spiked this one:

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The Rockets ultimately got the big win in Game 1, but if we’re talking about meme-able moments, LeBron’s constant bullying of poor Russ was definitely among them.

Other meme-able moment: James Harden’s stare-down

As an ASU alum and diehard James Harden apologist, yeah. This one sparks joy.

LVP: Kyle Kuzma

This was about as bad a game as Kyle Kuzma has played in quite a while. The 25-year-old wing struggled to contain anything off the dribble defensively, which was compounded by the complete lack of punch he brought on the offensive end.

The Lakers need him to be their third-best player to contend. In Game 1, he was the Rockets’ third-best player.

In 28 minutes off the bench, Kuzma only managed to contribute 8 points on 3-of-9 shooting and was a minus-21. He has to be better moving forward to justify the minutes Frank Vogel needs out of him, especially since he’ll most likely continue to be a defensive liability against this small-ball Rockets squad.