34 points, 10 rebounds from Anthony Davis led the Lakers past Rockets to even out the series in the western conference semi-finals matchup. Lebron James added a near triple double ( 28 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists) to ensure Lakers beat the Rockets 117-109 in a thrilling game on Sunday night.
Markieff Morris also played a huge role off the bench by scoring 16 points for the Lakers. The Lakers opened up a 21 point lead at the end of the first half and looked like a team trying to make a statement after losing game 1. However Rockets found their groove in the 3rd quarter and scored 41 to take a 2 point lead heading into the 4th quarter.
Lebron James, who had 0 points in the 4th quarter of game 1 scored 8 and made several defensive plays in the 4 quarter of this one as the Lakers pulled away again and secured the victory. Speaking after game, he thought Lakers adjusted well from game 1 to game 2.
It was also another record breaking night for the Lakers star who moved past Ray Allen (385) for second on the career postseason list for 3-pointers. He trails only Stephen Curry who is the leader with 470.
The return of Rondo has also been a major boost for the Lakers with the veteran guard adding 10 points and 9 assists. This drew praise from Head coach Vogel who said: "His impact on our team is measured in swag."
James Harden who had 27 points on the night felt they didn’t play hard enough in da first half and that cost them the game.
They just came out and played harder than us, I feel like," Harden said. "In the second half, we woke up and took the lead. We've just got to have that intensity at the beginning of the game and we'll be all right."
Rockets Head coach D’Antoni echoed Harden’s sentiments.
"Middle of the first all the way to end of the first, they just hit us in the mouth. We didn't play with enough intensity to match their fire. We adjusted in the second half in the sense that we played harder."
Eric Gordon scored 24 points, P. J Tucker added 18 points and Robert Covington also scored 17. It was however a night to forget on the offensive end for Russell Westbrook who finished the night with 7 turnovers and 10 points from a 4 for 15 shooting night.
This series is turning out to be a really fun series to watch with lots of momentum shifts. We only hope for more in Game 3 on Tuesday night.