LeBron James Reacts To 111-121 Loss Against Houston

The Houston Rockers decided to play with a small, range-shooting lineup. Lakers superstar LeBron James said it would be challenging to defend the team as the Rockets have taken their use of 3-point shooting to a whole new level.

“They’re already shooting 45, 50 threes a game. Now they’re going to go to 60, 65 3s,” LeBron said. “That creates challenges for everyone in the league because you have to be on your toes and guarding a guy who is averaging almost 40 and guarding a guy who has averaged triple-doubles in seasons before. So, it creates a lot more space for Russ (Westbrook) and (James) Harden. It’s going to be very challenging not only for us but for the rest of the league because they are going extremely small with a bunch of shooters.”

The Houston Rockets played smart against LeBron and the team

The Rockets played five games with small lineups and averaged 48.6 attempts on 3-pointers. Clint Capela played 17 minutes against the Portland Trail Blazers. Isaiah Hartenstein played nine minutes against the Jazz and Hornets.

In the three contests prior to the game at Staples Center, the Rockets used an average of 52 3-pointers. That’s almost eighth more than their NBA-leading average.

The game between LA and Houston was full of contrasts with the contrast in size being the biggest.

“It changes things,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “They were playing that way some throughout the year. They’ll be doing it almost full time now. It presents some challenges for us with our size. We also with our size present some challenges for them. It will be an interesting test for both teams. We have to be able to execute unique, different coverage.”

The Lakers are all-in when it comes to making changes, and they have the power to adjust to their opponents.

“The league has been playing with five 3-point shooters increasingly each year over the past four or five years,” Vogel said. “That part of it is not really that unique. It’s something the league is doing a lot. They’re just doing it with smaller guys. But the coverages are the same as if you had a center out there shooting 3s.”

LeBron’s team dominates the Western Conference, and they are on a good way to win a title. The Lakers will win a title for Kobe Bryant.