Jalen Green scored a game-high 28 points while Alperen Sengun chipped in 19 as the host Houston Rockets extended their winning streak to four games with a 128-94 wire-to-wire victory over the injury-ravaged Los Angeles Lakers on Monday.
Green was efficient throughout, making 11 of 15 attempts to pace the Rockets, who shot 55.9 percent through three periods while carrying a 28-point advantage into the fourth. Sengun matched Green in efficiency, going 8 of 10 from the floor while, like Green, adding seven rebounds. Green and Sengun totaled two turnovers in 46 combined minutes played.
The Lakers, who added Anthony Davis (hip) to a long list of sidelined rotation players, have dropped the first three games on a four-game road trip that concludes in Phoenix on Friday.
Los Angeles reserve Rui Hachimura scored a team-high 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds in his return from a four-game absence caused by a concussion. D’Angelo Russell tallied 22 points while LeBron James added 18 points and six rebounds.
The Rockets ran away and hid from the Lakers early, amassing 20 points in the paint in the opening period. The ease with which Houston scored was enhanced by superior ball security — the Rockets committed only two turnovers in the first quarter — and sticky defense. The Lakers shot just 36.8 percent in the first and missed 5 of 6 3-pointers and 6 of 10 from the foul line.
The Lakers didn’t fashion much of a comeback threat in the second quarter, either. Green stretched what was once a 15-point lead to 47-29 with a catch-and-shoot 3 followed by a pickpocket of Austin Reaves that resulted in a transition dunk with 7:28 remaining in the first half.
That sequence was part of a 13-4 run that enabled the Rockets to stretch their advantage to 51-29, and when Green and Sengun scored in succession moments later, Houston had its largest first-half lead at 56-32.
The first half was one-sided in every sense. The Rockets finished with a 44-24 advantage on paint points, a 12-1 margin with second-chance points and a 15-2 cushion in fast-break points. Green capped the third quarter with a pair of dazzling forays to the rim as Houston carried a 99-71 lead into the fourth.
Rockets reserve Tari Eason paired nine points with nine rebounds in his season debut.
–Field Level Media
