What's up basketball fans! I am here again @dwin0603 to give you another exciting basketball discussion for another episode of NBA Talk, and today we will talk about LeBron James' outstanding performance against the Houston Rockets. Let's do this!
LeBron James already activated his "playoff mode" and overcomes James Harden's 30-point game beating the Houston Rockets with an epic comeback, 111-106. We all know that James has this so called "playoff intensity" level of play that he usually activates come playoffs time but this season seemed different as he already activated it earlier than usual. Before this game against Houston, James stated that he will activate his "playoff mode" and looks like the King backed up his words and delivered well even after the whole team struggles.
Game Recap
I will just give you a short recap of the game. The first quarter was a close battle as both teams don't want to play soft and treating the game like it was a must win game. Actually, every game for the Lakers is a must win if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive. That is also the reason why James activated his playoff intensity type of game even if it's not already the playoffs. Houston got it going early from the outside knocking down their three point shots while Brandon Ingram used his length as an advantage to slash through the defense and puts his shots close to the rim. It's a close game until the Rockets rallied in the last minute of the first period hitting back to back threes to end the first period with a 32-22 lead.
Houston kept their lead early in the second quarter but the Lakers fought back and have their own run to cut the lead to single digits again nearing the end of the second period. The third quarter is where the Houston got a huge edge over the Lakers. L.A.'s turnovers hurts them a lot in the third including some bad decisions by Ingram and some other team mates. There's also a scene where Kuz and Bron were arguing about a play where Kuz tried a bad pass and ended up turning the ball over. The King was upset and confronted Kuz during a timeout. The lead grows up to 19 points but the Lakers again gained some momentum in the final minutes of the third period to stay in the game.
L.A. looks to picked up the pace in the fourth and final period as they shut down Houston and limit them to 16 points only in that quarter, also outscoring them after the Lakers scored 28. LBJ and Bi comes up big making some big time shots to take the momentum and gets the crowd into it. Then, Reggie Bullock hits a crucial three pointer to take a 6 point lead with one and a half minute left and seal the deal. Harden immediately attacks the basket the following play and commit an offensive foul against LeBron James and fouls out, and that was the story of the game.
This is a great start for the Lakers after the all-star break. But there's one question in my mind. How long can LeBron James keeps this "playoff mode" now that he is already 34 years old. Will it last until the end of the season? Well, let's find out!
That is all for today folks! What do you think? Where can LeBron take this young Lakers squad now that he has no other star beside him? I would be glad to hear your opinions about this article so drop your comments now and let's have some basketball talk! :)
Comments