Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The Rockets face a must-win scenario in Game 2 against the Lakers after an abysmal offensive showing in Game 1, scoring only 98 points without Kevin Durant.
- Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr. struggled mightily, combining for just 33 points on a high volume of attempts.
- Adjustments are needed, including more dynamic pick-and-roll actions and increased defensive pressure on Lakers ball handlers to create better shots.
There’s nothing worse than showing up to the NBA Playoffs looking unprepared. You didn’t comb your hair, your backpack is wide open and you forgot your water bottle at home — it’s just a bad scene. The Houston Rockets, meanwhile, showed up without a shirt on.
Kevin Durant is not a shirt, but Game 1 saw the Rockets appear completely unable to cope without their superstar against a Los Angeles Lakers team that was shockingly able to cope without their two best scorers. The Rockets were massive favorites in this series given Luka Dončić’s injury, and so it’s time to call The Wolf (me) to see if we can’t find them a new shirt to wear for Game 2, Durant or not.
The Rockets could not score in Game 1
First, assess the situation: what’s the simplest, most obvious number we can identify for why the Rockets lost? Answer: 98, the number of points the Rockets scored on a Lakers defense that allowed the 10th most points per 100 possessions in the NBA this season and also played Luke Kennard, not traditionally heralded as a defensive stopper, 38 minutes. 98 points is not going to cut it.
Even more jarring is the fact that the Rockets took 93 shots to the Lakers’ 66. Do you know how difficult it is to lose by nine to a team that took almost 30 fewer shots than you? That’s like losing a hot dog-eating contest to someone who took half as many bites as you. Sure, the Lakers shot 20 percent better from three, but Houston still made more threes total. The Rockets posting 38 percent from the floor is unfathomably terrible, and taking 93 shots to score 98 points built several apartment buildings with all the bricks they threw up.
Next, identify possible inefficiencies: Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr. played 43 minutes but only combined for 33 points. Thompson is a great defender but cannot (and lately will not) shoot 3s, and while Smith is a decent shooter and pretty much required to be on the court for Houston to get any rebounds, he took the fourth most shots on the team behind Thompson, Alperen Şengün and Reed Sheppard.
Houston will need to switch up their action in Game 2 to create better shots
This Rockets team suffers from horrid redundancy on both sides of the ball with dribbling-agnostic wings popping out of drawers, and the need to support two non-shooters in Thompson and Şengün at once is the dictionary definition of a problem. Giving Tari Eason, one of the lone bright spots from Game 1, more run instead of Josh Okogie may be tempting for many Rockets fans, but Okogie is (somehow) one of the best shooters on the team without Durant and needs to play to preserve shooting. I imagine that is what Head Coach Ime Udoka was trying to do with Okogie in the starting lineup, but he’s not particularly dynamic and the Rockets never could spring him open.
Throw all that in a pot and add a heaping spoonful of nobody-made-any-shots, you have a borderline-unsalvageable offensive situation against a Lakers team that only put up 107 points. But Houston can beat a Lakers team that is this offensively challenged; they just can.
Finally, what is to be done?: If Thompson won’t shoot, I would love to see him and Smith in more pick-and-roll actions together to allow Shepherd to shoot off the catch more Sheppard ran 12 pick-and-rolls in Game 1, behind only Cade Cunningham and Jayson Tatum. That is way too much volume for a player who has not proven he can create off the dribble or be a reliable pull-up shooter.
Different pick-and-roll looks and higher defensive pressure will be key for Houston
Thompson ran a lot of pick-and-rolls in the regular season, and while I’d expect the Lakers to employ heavy drop coverage on any actions he runs, I want the Rockets’ actual shooters to be able to move without the ball and get higher-quality shots than they were getting in Game 1.That should free up the paint for Şengün to actually do some work, robbing the Lakers of the clog-the-paint cheat code they can repeatedly employ if the Rockets can’t space the floor.
Defensively, I need to see traps and presses on any Lakers ball handler not named LeBron James and especially on ones named LeBron James Jr.; Honestly, press LeBron James Sr. too — he’s a great passer and dribbler who can hurt you if you overcommit, but he’s also 41 years old. Someone remind him of that.
If Durant comes back tonight, great. But if he doesn’t, the above should help the Rockets get this thing together before it all falls apart. Because if Luka sits the whole series and the Rockets just … lose? Houston will go from an awkward situation to a downright emergency overnight.
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