Watch Los Angeles Lakers @ Houston Rockets Game 3 live on Sky Sports Arena in the early hours of Wednesday morning (2am)
Monday 7 September 2020 10:34, UK
LeBron James said the Los Angeles Lakers 'adjusted from Game 1 to Game 2' after they bounced back to level their Western Conference semi-final series with the Houston Rockets on Sunday night.
James had 28 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists while Anthony Davis added 34 points and 10 rebounds enabling the Lakers to even the series with a 117-109 Game 2 victory.
James took only 15 shots in Game 1 and was scoreless in the fourth quarter of the Lakers' 112-97 series-opening loss, saying afterward that the Lakers needed to experience a game to understand how fast the small-ball Rockets play.
After helping the Lakers to victory, he reflected: "Sometimes you need one game to be able to understand the speed that they play with. We adjusted from Game 1 to Game 2.
"(The Rockets are an) extremely fast team. Everyone keeps talking about 'small ball', but their speed and their activity - offensively and defensively - is something that can catch you off guard in something like a Game 1 situation.
"We got a feel for that. We understand how hard (it would be on) every possession, how much running, how much scrambling, how much pace, how physical the game was going to be against this team because they are very good, extremely good, no matter who is out on the floor. We did a good job of that tonight."
James praised Lakers bench players Markieff Morris and Kyle Kuzma for their contributions to the Game 2 win. Morris scored 16 points for the Lakers, hitting four three-pointers in a row that enabled the Lakers to open up a 21-point first-half lead.
"Markieff (Morris) was spectacular off the bench giving us instant offense. Just his grit… we love having him on the floor. Markieff was gigantic! He is a professional who stays ready. Even though this is 'Kuz's' first playoff run, he stayed ready as well. Big-time performances from our bench tonight."
After leading 67-51 at half-time, the Lakers gave up 41 points in the third quarter before regrouping behind some high-flying plays by James to pull away again.
James was dominant on both ends in the final period, scoring eight points and a making a powerful block on Russell Westbrook that flew far out of bounds.. He had a dunk to open the fourth and tie the game and another dunk on a lob during an 8-0 run that gave the Lakers the lead for good. The put the game away later in the period with a 9-0 burst, featuring two baskets from Davis, to make it 113-101.
"After their third-quarter rally and the flurry of threes they hit, I knew the team that dug down and tried to get as many stops as possible would get an opportunity to win this game. I was happy I was able to make a few plays for my team-mates to even the series up," James said.
"We know how hard we have got to play. We were flying around, we were helping one another, we were on a string. They are one of the best shooting teams in our league but if we continue with that pace, that energy then we give ourselves a good chance coming into Game 3."
Game 3 takes place in the early hours of Wednesday morning (2am), live on Sky Sports Arena.
