In Round 1, the Lakers silenced all the doubters by completing a gentleman’s sweep over the Portland Trail Blazers. Today, the Lakers handled the Rockets in a similar fashion, winning four in a row following their Game 1 loss.
After taking an early lead tonight, the Lakers never looked back and finished with a 30 point lead over a Rockets team who were disgruntled, outmatched, and outplayed from the opening tip.
With the Lakers headed to their first Conference Finals in about a decade, and the Rockets headed home early for yet another season, Twitter was buzzing with reactions and analysis from the fans and media.
The @Lakers starting 5 really dominated the Rockets tonight! KCP had 10 points, Green had 14, Morris 16, AD 13, and LeBron with 29 points.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) September 13, 2020
WEST FINALS BOUND!! Congrats, Lakers! Well played.
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) September 13, 2020
The @Lakers take down Houston to advance to the WCF for the first time since 2010 ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/fOAnyOE7m0
— NBA TV (@NBATV) September 13, 2020
James Harden and the Rockets have now lost six of their last seven elimination games. pic.twitter.com/CyKTJEKCfi
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 13, 2020
Is it time to blow it up? pic.twitter.com/WSd3yPEMD3
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 13, 2020
Rockets fans therapy session.
Let it all out.
This is a safe place.
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) September 13, 2020
Rockets fans trying to decide who to blame pic.twitter.com/1dIA9IwBcg
— Hudson (@thehudsonisaak) September 13, 2020
https://twitter.com/sean3_yates/status/1304963474200686595https://twitter.com/DMoreyBurner/status/1304963144331284484
Horrible
A lot of team uses small ball every game and it works
Strategically in spurts
Not 48 minutes a game for 82 games a season + postseason. https://t.co/WEAA1ML9wF
— Fadeaway World (@FadeawayWorld) September 13, 2020
https://twitter.com/ContentNBA/status/1304966714652872706
James Harden led all scorers with 30 points on 60% shooting while LeBron was the guy for L.A. with 29 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists.
The Lakers are set to face off against the winner of the Nuggets/Clippers series, which may be decided as soon as tomorrow night.
As for the Rockets, their lethargic performance was not a good way to end the series and could signal some major changes this offseason. Nobody quite knows what their roster will look like this time next year. Losing to L.A. could have been the final nail in the coffin of what was already a dire situation.
