LeBron James scored 26 points in just more than three quarters and the Los Angeles Lakers never trailed in a 117-100 rout of the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
Anthony Davis added 19 points and 10 rebounds in three quarters to help the Lakers to their second straight blowout over the Rockets after a 120-102 victory Sunday night.<\/p>\n
"We played some brilliant basketball in stretches in both of the last two games and in particular in the … first half tonight," coach Frank Vogel said. "Our defence was really tight with our execution and containment."<\/p>\n
Los Angeles led by 20 or more for most of the game on a night James Harden made just 5 of 16 shots and the Rockets were outrebounded 55-42.<\/p>\n
"We've got a common goal to compete every night, to play championship basketball and be accountable," James said.<\/p>\n
The Rockets scored the first five points of the fourth quarter, but a three-point play by James ended the modest run and made it 100-76 with about 10 \u00bd minutes to go. He went to the bench for good after that.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Christian Wood had 18 points and eight rebounds and Harden had 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists in a game where none of Houston's starters played in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
"We didn't bring the right intensity to the game," Houston coach Stephen Silas said.<\/p>\n
The Lakers were up by six in the first quarter before scoring the next 12 points, with five from James, to make it 28-10 with five minutes left in the quarter. They were up 35-14 after the first quarter and had a 71-48 lead at halftime.<\/p>\n
LA had a 25-point lead in the third quarter before scoring the next five points, with a 3-pointer and a block by Davis, to make it 95-65 with about two minutes to go in the quarter.<\/p>\n
James even wowed his teammates when he shot a 3 from the corner near the LA bench in the second quarter and turned his back to the basket as it swished through the net.<\/p>\n
Teammate Dennis Schroder bet him $100 that he wouldn't make it and since James didn't have time to shake his hand to secure the bet, he said he had to face him to do it.<\/p>\n
"I had to look him in the eye and I was able to win that one," James said with a laugh.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/twitter.com\/jovanbuha\/status\/1349196495128432644?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1349196495128432644%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxsports.com.au%2Fbasketball%2Fnba%2Fnba-2021-news-lebron-james-turnaround-3-no-look-shot-los-angeles-lakers-vs-houston-rockets-bench-reaction-video%2Fnews-story%2F0ff16d0114d02775225dffa322c1f4bf<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/LakersReporter\/status\/1349203087701864448<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/Lakers\/status\/1349175151724621826<\/a>https:\/\/twitter.com\/LakersReporter\/status\/1349204065763225600<\/a><\/p>\n Silas obviously had a different reaction to the play.<\/p>\n "They're obviously a together group, and they're having fun at our expense," Silas said. "So it doesn't feel good at all, and we should take umbrage. It's like they're dancing on our homecourt."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"