Austin Rivers Offers Bold Message About Facing Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers finished Game 1 with a big loss to the Houston Rockets. It was an unexpected loss as many thought that LeBron James and his teammates would defeat James Harden and Houston. Players on both teams are getting ready for Game 2, and head coaches have high expectations from their lineups. Rockets guard Austin Rivers talked about facing the Lakers, and it looks like his team was patiently waiting for this opportunity.

“We’ve been waiting for this — you know what I mean?,” Rivers told Sam Amick of The Athletic. “I mean we’ve been waiting to play (the Lakers). Who doesn’t want to play the Lakers? We all grew up watching the Showtime Lakers, and Kobe Bryant. And now, (they have) arguably the greatest player of all time — you’ve got LeBron (James) there. It’s a fun thing to go against, to compete against. You get up for that. Anybody who says they’re not is lying.

“We don’t talk about it. It’s just a competitive thing. It’s no different than you guys (in the media) being excited to (cover) it. You want to cover it for a reason because you know that it’s an exciting team and they’re the Lakers.”

Austin Rivers is facing the Lakers for a win

We could see this excitement in the first game of the series. It was a rather competitive game and players struggled to score points in the first three quarters. The Rockets had a better game in the final quarter and finished the game with a 112-97 win.

Rivers had a good night off the Rockets bench. He scored 10 points in 16 minutes of playing time.

Game 1 was a warning for the Los Angeles Lakers. They lost the first game of the series to the Portland Trail Blazers. However, they were a dominant force in Game 2, and the rest is history.

Will the Rockets replicate their success? It will be interesting to see LeBron face the Rockets and finish the game with a win. The Lakers will have to try really hard to win the series.