LOS ANGELES — The Lakers’ Halloween costumes had a theme: LeBron James dressed as Freddy Krueger from Friday the 13th, Anthony Davis donned a mask as the Candyman, and Russell Westbrook went as Chucky from Child’s Play.
But creepy make-up and outfits won’t be what gives the Houston Rockets nightmares as they mull over their second game of this mini-series coming Tuesday night: The Lakers steamrolled them on the court, without needing a big scoring night from any of their stars.
As unlikely as it may sound given how the Lakers started the season, defense was the key in a 95-85 victory over the Rockets on Sunday night at Staples Center. After an 0-2 start, the Lakers have now won four out of their last five to get rolling in an admittedly soft portion of their schedule for a 4-3 record that has them over .500 for the first time.
While they had moments on offense — perhaps none more impressive than a fastbreak reverse jam by James in the second quarter — the biggest gap between the teams was turnovers. The Rockets had a whopping 27, and against the fast-break adept Lakers, that’s a fatal flaw. The Rockets wound up taking just 76 shots to the Lakers’ 96, and the final score wasn’t much of an indicator of how one-sided the game was.
All those giveaways didn’t net as many points as they could have: The Lakers scored 32 points off of Houston’s turnovers, flubbing an awkward number of fastbreak opportunities including one cringe-inducing rim rejection by Kent Bazemore. But it did the job, as the Lakers wound up with 20 points on fast break opportunities.
Of the Big Three, Westbrook led with 20 points, but took 22 shots. None of them were particularly efficient: James was 6 for 19 with 15 points and 8 assists, while Davis was 7 for 17 with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
The best scorer for either team was Carmelo Anthony (23 points), who started a red-hot 5 for 6 from the floor as the Lakers led as much by 28 points. He also achieved a milestone that he hadn’t notched in nearly 18 years: Anthony had four blocks and two steals, pushing back on some critiques of his defense so far this season.
The game was notable for the team’s decision to start small for the first time this season: Davis began the game at center, while Avery Bradley replaced DeAndre Jordan to give the Lakers an additional guard.
It was difficult, however, to definitively conclude whether it was a net positive for the Lakers, who didn’t make the most of their improved spacing and shot just 40.6% as a team from the floor. Bradley wound up with 2 points and 3 steals in 30 minutes, while Jordan had a solid night of 8 points and 2 blocks while filling in for an injured Dwight Howard.
In the fourth quarter, the Rockets weren’t quite snuffed, clawing back to within 11 points on a dunk by Kenyon Martin Jr. — an opponent whose father went head-to-head with several of the Lakers on the court back in the day. After a timeout, the Lakers responded by slowing down the pace to run a play to get Westbrook a lay-up.
There would be no late surge by the Rockets, with the Lakers particularly on guard since blowing a 26-point lead in Oklahoma City earlier in the week. James’ presence played a big role on the defensive end, too: He had four steals and a block.