ClutchFans Game Thread: Lakers @ Rockets 1/19/2019

Oh boy. You must have missed holic’s essays

 

Good thing the team survived the Kuz, Kuzma.

 

Shout out to Austin Rivers! 46 minutes tonight!

 

I like Rivers. He is very talented, he should drive to the basket frequently, especially now that teams are probably going to try and force Harden to go right more often. Rivers is pretty much unstoppable at the rim. Excessive minutes are hurting him. Gordon's presence should reduce some pressure off him. I was unhappy and concerned with only 5 points from him in this game though.
Go Austin! Go Rockets!

 

if i got a choice, i would still rather losing to nets than to fakers

 

PJ shut him down once he guarded him in 2nd half

 

Feel like the basketball gods gave us this one after that Nets debacle.

James Ennis best game as a Rocket? Dude was killing it for a bit.

Rivers looking more hesitant in his shot. Giving me PTSD from Ryan Anderson.

Gordon played amazing and added another clutch 3 to his resume.

Harden is unlocked Jiren right now from DBS.

 

Okay, so the bulk of our money is spent on James, CP and Clint.
Our record when all 3 start was 50-5 last year; FIFTY WINS AND ONLY 5 LOSSES!
That's a 91% winning percentage. (Not to mention taking GSW to 7 games and having our foot on their throat)
Who wouldn't invest in that sort of success?

Role players can have some impact, but when healthy we'll be rolling again.
THIS game wouldn't have even been a contest with Clint in the middle.
This injury setback is only temporary. Clint's injury was a freak accident.

So, if you were the owner and burned $2BIL on the team, would YOU spend
far more money (AND exceed the lux tax) to build ANOTHER team to compete while your stars are out
for a 'temporary' period? Smart money says no. You do what you can within
your budget to keep things afloat until the storm passes.
I have confidence when Clint gets back we'll be a force again and we'll make the playoffs.
When Chris is back it will help even more.
Even if we make the playoffs at a lower seed, we'll be a DANGEROUS draw for even GSW
Patience. . . .

 

I noticed Rivers passing out of at least 5 wide open looks.
Passed to corner on couple of them to a covered PJ for terrible shots with clock running down.
He does seem reluctant to shoot, even open looks during crunch time.
I think he missed some early and decided it wasn't his night.
Hopefully he can find his mojo. We need him

 

Rivers hand is hurt

 

Don't use the old Memphis grizzlies slogan from back in 2016 of 3 years ago!

James harden ain't cut his beard in more than three years.

 

Well sure. Losing to an Eastern team isn't as bad as losing to a Western team, especially the obnoxious Lakers. Seeding matter and it's game like these that help decide it.

 

A lot of things can be said about this game.

Yeah, we NEED Eric Gordon.

Austin Rivers, "the defender" is critical. In many ways, he is the "Ariza" replacement. Taking on the tough WING challenges.

Which then leads us to PJ Tucker, taking on the low post challenges. And he put the FULL LOCKDOWN on Kuz in the 2nd half. Gracious!

Capela is important, despite what some may say.

 

Wow, so much hatred on this thread for my boy PJ. He led in rebounds and steals people!!! 9 rebounds, 5 steals, and a block is what I call busting your butt out there, regardless of whether your shot is falling.

 

Astute observation. Thank you.

Harden playing CENTER on defense last nite like a BOSS. And don't tell me he is "resting" on defense in these situations. He is banging in the post. That is grown man work!

 

Think we can trade Paul for Kuzma?

 

Saw that promo. Was niiiiiiiiice. Looking forward to seeing it more this week leading up to the game! ;-)

 

We saw the Nets game and we saw the Lakers game.

Guys, it is high variance right now. EVERY game is going to be tough without CP/Capela. There are going to be ups and downs. It is about "hanging on" and trying to stay afloat in the west.

Just keep that in mind.

2-1 without Capela. ~ 12 more games to go. Stay above 500 in that stretch.

 

Will the harden to capela alley hoops be there after the capela injuries have piled up?

The rockets don't wanna see Lakers with lebron in a first round 3 versus 6 match up or 2 versus 7 matchup.

 

How can anyone hate PJ that actually watched the game last night? That might have been his greatest game as a Rocket.

Completely shutting down Kuzma, and grabbing or deflecting all the loose balls. Who cares if his shot wasn’t falling.