I thought we were past the days when NBA games ended in scores like the Rockets-Lakers game. 88-79? When the Lakers, commonly seen as an offensive juggernaut, are involved?
Rockets-Lakers: That Was An Ugly Game
It seems kind of improbable, but that’s what we got last night. It should be noted that Houston is hardly an offensive juggernaut, and the Lakers were playing without Pau Gasol, but it shouldn’t have been that bad. Silver Screen and Roll, SB Nation’s Lakers blog, describes the game as follows:
This game was just stupidly dull. You would only tell your grandkids about it as a form of punishment. Neither team could make a shot or dribble without tripping over themselves. Technically speaking, it was a close contest. After a first quarter burst that put them up by 12, the Lakers slogged along with a 5-9 point lead most of the night. But it never felt like the Rockets had the juice to hit six shots in a row and take the lead. As it turns out, they didn’t, and they didn’t.
[Lakers announcers] Joel [Meyers] and Stu [Lantz] were super-enraptured by how the Rockets, in their oft-repeated words, “never stopped working,” but they way oversold that talking point. I mean, I guess Houston played hard enough, but were they really any different from most NBA teams? It’s not like squads routinely walk off the floor when they fall behind by eight. Cultivating a cute rep as gritty overachievers is nice. Making more than four out of 23 three-point attempts would’ve been nicer.
The Dream Shake, SB Nation’s Rockets blog, was much more blunt.
It wasn’t as bad a game for Houston as the score indicates. However, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t ugly, because it was really, really ugly.
The worst part? This game was broadcasted on NBATV as part of “Fan Night,” which allows fans to vote for the game NBATV shows every Tuesday night. The fans voted for this game. Meanwhile, there were several exciting finishes out West, including Warriors-Nuggets, Suns-Kings and Grizzlies-Blazers. Nice choice, fans.
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