The Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets faced off for Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals of the NBA playoffs, with the purple and gold entering the matchup being highly favored. Now, judging by the memes and reactions, it seems like things didnāt go their way tonight.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis were 5.5-point favorites to beat the Rockets. They hadnāt played since Saturday and had plenty of time to rest and study their rivals, while Houston had to go to a Game 7 vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Well, at the end of the day, none of that mattered. The Rockets hit the ground running and never took the feet off the gas and gave the Lakers a basketball lesson. Theywon 3 out of 4 quarters and took a 1-0 lead in the series with a 112-97 win.
There was a lot of speculation regarding the Lakersā ability to match up vs. top tier rivals like the Rockets. Even so, they hada size advantage, the best duo in the world, and a deeper squad but theyjust couldnāt make the most of it.
James Harden and Russell Westbrook combined for 60 pointsand controlled the pace of the game from start to finish. The Lakers, a team supposed to be at the top of the race for an NBA Championship, never saw them coming. Needless to say, the internet had a lot to say about it.
Funniest memes and reactions from the Lakersā terrible loss to the Rockets
Itās still too early to hit the panic button. Letās not forget that the Lakers also dropped game 1 in the first round vs. the Portland Trail Blazers and came back in a high note to get the gentlemanās sweep. The Rockets, however, promise to be a much more difficult pill to swallow, so they betterturn the corner right now.
