LeBron James may have had the better stat line, but Dillon Brooks had the last laugh as the Rockets blew out the Lakers 128-94. Jalen Green had a game-high 28 points while young center Alperen Sengun had 19 points of his own as the Rockets dropped the Lakers to 0-5 on the road this season. After promising to "lock up" LeBron, Brooks finished with 5 points and 4 rebounds. Meanwhile, LeBron, who had offered praise to Brooks earlier in the day, finished with 18 points and 6 rebounds. Rui Hachimura led the Lakers in scoring with 24. However, he was just one of three Lakers to reach double digits alongside LeBron and D'Angelo Russell.
Following the loss, the Lakers pointed to their injured-depleted roster. "I mean, we can't build cohesion if we don't have our unit. It's that simple. It's just, we're very depleted on the injury side," Lebron said after the loss. The Lakers are currently without Anthony Davis, Jaxson Hayes, Jarred Vanderbilt, Jalen Hood-Schfino, and Gabe Vincent. However, the team is hoping that Davis will be available for Friday's game against Phoenix, the Lakers' first of the in-season tournament group stage.
Lakers Making The Worst Kind Of History
The Lakers' 3-5 start to the season is just a one-game improvement to their dismal 2-6 start last year. However, the team is continuing to make history in all the worst ways. According to ESPN, the 2023/24 Lakers are now the first team in NBA history to make fewer threes and shoot worse from three than their opponents in each of their first eight games. Furthermore, the team has a -74 first-quarter point differential, also a historically low mark.
However, things could be about to turn around for the Lakers. They face the Suns on Friday, a team they have already beaten this season. After that, it's back to LA for games against the Blazers and Grizzlies. The Blazers are also 3-5 at the time of writing. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies have completely fallen apart thanks to some major injuries and Ja Morant's suspension. Last year's two-seed are currently 1-7 to open the season.
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