LA Lakers 88, Houston Rockets 79

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No surprises here: the Houston Rockets exhibited their usual valor and lost to the defending champion LA Lakers.

Carl Landry led the way with 19, including 13 in the 1^st half, almost singlehandedly keeping the team in the game in the 2nd.  Andrew Bynum was too big inside for the Rockets as he finished with 24 points.  Lamar Odom had 17 points and 19 rebounds.  Kobe Bryant had a rough shooting night going 9-23 from the field for 22 points.

The flow of this one was pretty odd as there were at least 5 occasions when the team went down by double digits, only to come roaring back within minutes.  As Ernie Johnson described during a break from the NBAtv studio, “Houston is like a boxer.”

Random Musings:

• I had some mixed feelings when the news broke that Pau Gasol would not be in uniform.  As a fan, I want this team to succeed and so naturally, am pleased by any factor that might facilitate that outcome.  At the same time, the subjective emotions that characterize ‘fandom’ are anathema to any type of analytical integrity.  I already knew this team was pretty good, but I wanted to see how far they still had to climb.  To that end, a game without Gasol is pretty much a waste of time.
• Interesting stat: the Lakers’ announcers mention prior to tip-off that the Houston Rockets are an astonishing 11-1 this year in games following a loss.  Incredible – especially for such a young team.  It really quantifies a certain level of focus that we can already observe with our eyes.
• My main observation from this game pertains to one Carl Landry.  He showed two moves last night that made my jaw drop; we’re talking shades of Hakeem Olajuwon.

1. With 3:31 remaining in the 2^nd, Carl faced up on the right block, drove hard to his left, put on the breaks, and then flipped back around (off his right pivot foot) for the short hook.  This is a move for which only the top 99^th percentile of big men in the league have the capacity to attempt.  In fact, I’ll go as far as to say that I’ve only seen Hakeem actually pull this off.  Landry usually spins with the dribble – a fairly easy move to pull off and done routinely by most wings.  The distinction here is that he actually turned after stopping, exhibiting the footwork to gather himself fluidly enough for the shot attempt.  I don’t think he actually made the shot, but process overrides result.  As far as I’m concerned, this was the most significant play of last night’s game.  We didn’t even know he had this in him…
2. With 7:22 remaining in the 4^th, Carl faces up once more, drives with his right hand, spins back to his left, and fades away for the shot.  My jaw drops.  He misses this shot as well, but again, he’s showing us moves that we didn’t even know he had.

• The evolution of Carl Landry has easily been the most striking theme of this season.  He’s gradually revealing jump hooks, driving spins, and driving fadeaways, to add to the jumpshooting and grab-the-board-against-4-guys-putback abilities we already knew he had.  It’s as if, prior to the season, he wrote a novel, and is now following his plan to release it piecemeal.  At this rate, I’m almost expecting to see a ‘Dreamshake’ by the first week of March.
• I want to explain how I write these recaps.  I sit down with my laptop while watching the game and jot down notes if anything catches my eye.  I then put meat on those general notes after the final buzzer.  What I just failed to mention is the internal battle I wage on a daily basis.  Prior to tip-off each night, I calmly tell myself, “Rahat, just don’t mention Trevor.  Focus on other aspects; don’t beat a dead horse.”  Ariza always forces me into losing this battle with my conscience.  He was 5-14 tonight, but these numbers don’t do justice to just how bad he was.  He took a ‘3’ from the corner against heavy coverage early on that just left me shaking my head.  After he actually fell down on a post-up with 3:10 remaining in the 4^th, a thought came to mind: before Trevor Ariza, never before did the phrase “he has bad footwork” have such literal meaning.  He’s not just awkward.  The guy actually routinely slips and falls while making his moves.  It’s just reaching laughable proportions right now.  Early on, he showcased his signature ‘stop-and-slide’ on multiple occasions, a quickly rising favorite of mine from his arsenal.  The ‘stop-and-slide’ basically entails Trevor stopping, losing his balance, and actually sliding off the other foot as he struggles to regain balance.  I couldn’t make this up if I tried.  I think Ariza serves as the perfect foil to Carl Landry in this strange season, as, while the latter almost seems to be holding back to further tease his audience through the season’s advance, the former finds new means for futility on a nightly basis.

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box score

Chronicle recap

LA Times piece on Rockets

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