Tues. 1/8 - Lakers @ Rockets - Predictions & Comments

Tuesday, January 8th
Live: 5:00 PM PST
TV: TWCSN, NBA
Radio: KSPN-AM 710/KWKW-AM 1330
Online Radio Link: http://espn.go.com/espnradio/losangeles/play?s=la

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I predict a loss, and my comment is this team is pathetic. Prove me wrong Lakers.

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Lakers (15-18) at Rockets (20-14)
8:00 PM EST

LAKERS
Lost last 3
5-10 on the road
9-13 vs. West

PROBABLE STARTERS
Steve Nash 10.2 points, 8.8 assists, 2.7 rebounds
Darius Morris 4.8 points, 2.1 assists, 1.5 rebounds
Kobe Bryant 30.5 points, 4.8 assists, 5.2 rebounds
Metta World Peace 13.2 points, 1.6 assists, 5.8 rebounds
Robert Sacre 0.5 points, 0.3 assists, 1.0 rebounds

ROCKETS
Won last 4
13-6 at home
6-12 vs. West

PROBABLE STARTERS
Jeremy Lin 12.1 points, 6.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds
James Harden 26.4 points, 5.3 assists, 4.2 rebounds
Marcus Morris 9.2 points, 1.0 assists, 4.2 rebounds
Chandler Parsons 14.0 points, 3.7 assists, 6.2 rebounds
Omer Asik 10.6 points, 1.0 assists, 11.4 rebounds

PREDICTION
The struggling Lakers will trot out a cobbled together starting lineup tonight. Gone is Dwight Howard. Gone is Pau Gasol. Gone is Jordan Hill. Given that their previous results against the Rockets were a mixed bag, the outlook is grim for the Lakers.

The Lakers smashed Houston at home on November 18th when Kobe Bryant triple-doubled. They then lost in Houston despite 39 points from Bryant. With a lineup featuring Darius Morris, a starter in name only, and Robert Sacre, who has logged a total of 55 minutes in the NBA, the Lakers will have to rely on their vets and hope for the best from the youngsters.

Looking at the numbers, the Rockets are the obvious favorites, and a blowout is possible.

Lakers 104
Rockets 110

loss... how does one cancel a NBA LP subscription? I have no use for it...

methinks the pain train will keep on rolling, choochoo.

this system cant work....this would be 10p loss

Can we right this ship or is it sunk? After last nights game I realized that there is something wrong chemistry wise on the team. The forced congratulations and almost staged picking up of a player when they were on the floor isn't a good sign IMO. A group playing as a team doesn't have to force that stuff.

Nash looks out of place and Howard is not being utilized in the best way either. How many more games before even the staunchest "Nash will fix Pau" supporters among us and in the media fold? He may be fighting through some injuries and a system that doesn't use him correctly but at 19 million he is our only tradable asset.... and we need to cash him in soon if we have even the slightest chance of doing anything this year.

If we lose these next 3 games (@HOU, @SA and vs OKC), are we officially DONE in terms of playoff hopes?
That would be 6 games under .500

Finwë wrote:If we lose these next 3 games (@HOU, @SA and vs OKC), are we officially DONE in terms of playoff hopes?
That would be 6 games under .500

If we go 30-16 after that, we can still possibly nab the 8th seed. 54% (where Portland is right now) is currently the 8th seed.

Rooscooter wrote:Can we right this ship or is it sunk? After last nights game I realized that there is something wrong chemistry wise on the team. The forced congratulations and almost staged picking up of a player when they were on the floor isn't a good sign IMO. A group playing as a team doesn't have to force that stuff.

Nash looks out of place and Howard is not being utilized in the best way either. How many more games before even the staunchest "Nash will fix Pau" supporters among us and in the media fold? He may be fighting through some injuries and a system that doesn't use him correctly but at 19 million he is our only tradable asset.... and we need to cash him in soon if we have even the slightest chance of doing anything this year.

kind of a vicious cycle. losing perpetuates bad feelings. bad feelings perpetuate losing. we appear to be in a tailspin

if pau dwight and hill being out doesnt bring the team together nothing will. these guys are gunna have to play extremely hard for eachother with our 3 bigs out. facing the hardships as a team should help them become more unified.

the line up will most likely be:
Nash/Duhon/Morris (might see him on Lin?)
Kobe/Meeks/Morris
Metta/Ebanks
Jamison/Clark
Sacre/Clark

with kobe and metta shifting down a position throughout the game. this should allow for big minutes for jamison. might see better off ball movement since were gunna have to rely on that and not post ups. hopefully nash can make this lineup something and kobe can play the right game and should efficiently while also play good D aswell as the team.

were not gunna out rebound them for sure because of their size but we can run small ball. i think we'll lose but our best shot at winning is guys like meeks and jamison stepping up HUGE as well as Ebanks and Clark with the minutes theyre given...make them count! Its gunna have to be won on efficient shooting, ball movement (off ball movement too), and defense (individual and team). communication is key and getting back too.

guys gotta come out with there backs against the wall and fight for the entire game. dont give up. dont slump their shoulders. fight and give it everything. and most importantly play for eachother as a team. face the adversary head on and beat it together as a team. sounds cheesy but its what this team needs to do now more than ever. its now or never....theres no coming back from being 15-21 after this week. we need 2 out of the 3 this week and it starts now.

Jamison and Sacre. They are gonna kill us in the paint, especially Harden

Kobe is proven to do great things with scrubs, except he has Nash to help, which has been doing the same lately. Kobe + Nash + scrubs will work guys, trust me. I am no being sarcastic, for some reason I see us coming up at least 3-1 this week.

LET'S DO THIS LAKESHOW!

C- Sacre / Clark
PF - Jamison / Metta / Clark
SF - Metta / Ebanks / Kobe
SG - Kobe / Meeks / Morris
PG - Nash / Duhon

LETS GO LAKERS ! Must Win Game !

funny I think we might win tomorrow.... without Howard and Gasol we might do better in D

Sacre will foul out in the 3rd quarter and be in foul trouble in the first few minutes of the game.

Houston, SAS, and OKC will score 70 points in the paint each game.

No problem, we'll just move Jamison to the 5.

Could be a surprise win, if Nash gets the scrubs involved and Kobe/MWP hitting that shot

Yeah, Nash plays better with scrubs. Zero egos to deal with except for Kobe.

Either gonna be a trap game for Houston, or we're getting slaughtered. Money is probably on getting slaughtered.

Unknowndevil wrote:funny I think we might win tomorrow.... without Howard and Gasol we might do better in D

.... D12 still has a big impact defensively even without being at 100%

Well I hope for the best but the first thing that will happen is Sacre 4 mins - 2 fouls

Finwë wrote:If we lose these next 3 games (@HOU, @SA and vs OKC), are we officially DONE in terms of playoff hopes?
That would be 6 games under .500

Need to win at least 30 more games to make the last seed.

Hope this is the one

starting lineup for Lakers
pg: Kobe
sg: Kobe
sf: Kobe
pf: Kobe
C: Kobe

pls win

Laker 6 Rocket 0