Recap: Lakers vs Rockets (G4)

ANTHONY DAVIS KEEPS ROLLING

Coming into this series against the Houston Rockets, it was the expectations that all eyes would be on Anthony Davis. Going up against the Rockets and their "small ball" lineup, it was thought that Davis would have a fantastic opportunity to put together some impressive performances for the Lakers during this round. So far, that has been exactly the case. Another big game tonight for the Brow who would finish with 29 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers. 

JAMES HARDEN STRUGGLES

It has been an eye-opening last couple of games for Houston Rockets star James Harden. Unfortunately, we are talking in a negative way. Harden had a rough one in this game, as he would finish with 21 points but would shoot 2 for 11 from the free throw line and 1 for 6 from downtown. Harden would make 16 of his 20 free throw attempts, as well as pitching in 10 assists. ESPN hoop analyst Kirk Goldsberry had a shocking statistic that you can see below about Harden in this playoffs. 

James Harden shot below 20% from the field for the 8th time in his playoff career.

LeBron, Durant, Kobe, and Jordan have combined to do that TWICE in their playoff careers

Harden's 8 playoff games shooting below 20% are tied with Bob Cousy for the most in the shot-clock era pic.twitter.com/ZpYUnCLY4q

— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) September 11, 2020

LAKERS CHANGE STARTING LINEUP

Going up against the Rockets small ball lineup in this round, a couple of Lakers players have seen their minutes drop in a major way in order to counter the matchups. JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard have seen a lack of minutes, based to the fact that bigs are almost extinct in this series. Tonight, the Lakers finally made a change inserting Markieff Morris into the starting lineup to replace McGee.