Davis, Lakers crush hapless Rockets in first game of doubleheader

Photo courtesy of @Lakers via Twitter

Well, so much for revenge.

In their first meeting since the second round of the N.B.A. playoffs last season, the visiting Los Angeles Lakers hammered the Houston Rockets by a score of 120-102 on Sunday night at the Toyota Center.

The Lakers, who eliminated the Rockets in five games in last year's playoffs, seemed to pick up right where they left off in the bubble. After a tightly-contested first quarter, L.A. pulled ahead to a fifteen-point lead midway through the third, and a 19-point lead at the half. After shooting 27% in the first quarter from the floor, it seemed Houston couldn't buy a basket outside of John Wall and James Harden.

A driving force behind the Lakers' offensive explosion was the play of Anthony Davis. After going 4-4 in the first quarter, Davis wouldn't miss until midway through the third quarter, on his tenth shot. He finished with 27 points on 75% shooting from the floor.

Houston tried their damndest to get back in it, cutting the deficit thirteen points after a 21-7 run late in the third quarter. James Harden, who was again unusually passive in the game overall, managed to string together some made shots to will the team back in it.

Harden would finish with 20 points and nine assists.

Despite being outplayed by his friend Anthony Davis, Christian Wood still put in another respectable performance for the evening. He went for 23 points--making it his seventh straight game with 20+ points, doing so in every game he's played as a Rocket--to go with three rebounds.

As a unit, Houston shot only 41% from the floor, and just under 30% from deep. They also committed 21 turnovers during the contest.

The Rockets fall to 3-5 on the year with the loss. They'll get another shot at the defending champs on Tuesday night in the second half of their brief two-game set against L.A. in Houston. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 PM CT.