Small ball Rockets hand Lakers surprise loss
The Houston Rockets went with a small lineup against the Los Angeles Lakers, and it paid dividends.
The small guys, PJ Tucker, Robert Covington, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Eric Gordon had big games.
Harden led all scorers with 36 points. Gordon pitched in 23 of his own and Westbrook also put up 24 points.
With 7:15 left in the fourth quarter, the Lakers found themselves down 101-82.
Lakers superstars LeBron James (20 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) and Anthony Davis (25 points, 14 rebounds) tried to do their best for the team, but did not get a lot of help from the rest of the roster.
The 112-97 shouldn’t be too much of a reason for Lakers fans to panic, for now at least. They had six days off, and may have been rusty. Remember, the Lakers lost Game 1 against the Portland Trail Blazers in the previous round, then went ahead to win four straight games.
Frank Vogel is going to be watching a lot of film over the next couple of days. The Lakers should be ready to make a statement in the next game.
The Bucks have spectacular fourth quarter meltdown
For three quarters, it looked like the Milwaukee Bucks were going to fight their way back into the series against the Miami Heat.
Entering the fourth quarter, the top seeded Bucks held what looked like a comfortable 87-75. All they had to do was hold on, play solid defense, and preserve the lead.
The Heat certainly had other plans, seeing as Jimmy Butler and his sidekicks went ahead and outscored the boys from Cream City 40-13 for the final 115-100 scoreline.
After a relatively disappointing Game 2, Butler answered the call to action and finished with 30 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. He singlehandedly outscored the Bucks in the fourth quarter.
With that massive loss, the Bucks are now on the verge of getting swept by their opponents. No one has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in the NBA playoffs, and with the way the Bucks are getting outplayed, they don’t look like they’re going to be the first.
This raises a lot of questions for the Bucks, whose star Giannis Antetokounmpo has been called a “Pippen” by retired NBA veteran and current analyst Richard Jefferson.
Antetokounmpo finished with 21 points, 16 rebounds, nine assists, two blocks, and a steal. I predicted before the game that the Bucks would need Giannis to have a monster game to win. He simply didn’t score enough, and the Bucks paid for it. It didn’t help that he tweaked his ankle in the first quarter.
The pressure is on the Bucks to get at least one game back, but the Heat are looking forward to their chance to bring out the brooms. Game 4 should be a great one to watch.
