On Wednesday night, in an attempt to earn their first road victory of the season, the Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Houston Rockets. However, they were once again severely shorthanded, as Anthony Davis joined Gabe Vincent, Jaxson Hayes, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Jalen Hood-Schifino on the inactive list with a left adductor/hip spasm.

Irrespective of individual absences, the Lakers exhibited substandard play, culminating in a resounding 128-94 defeat that dropped them to 3-5 on the season.

The Lakers got off to a predictably sluggish start in Davis’ absence, as the Rockets scored the first eight points before D’Angelo Russell’s layup put Los Angeles on the board.

Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green both buried early three-pointers to give the Rockets an early 17-7 advantage. It was the sixth time in eight games that the Lakers entered the first quarter with a double-digit deficit.

However, from that point on, LeBron James transitioned into attack mode, challenging Brooks to a midrange basket and then generating a counterattack.

Rui Hachimura was one of the Lakers’ players to return to action after missing the previous four contests due to a concussion. He scored immediately after entering the game off the bench and receiving a lovely pass from Russell. Later in the quarter, he also drained a three-pointer, but the Lakers labored offensively overall and entered the second half trailing 32-19.

As was the case in the first, the Lakers continued to suffer on the glass and at the free throw line in the early minutes of the second quarter.

Although James assisted Hachimura on two effortless layups, Jalen Green responded swiftly with five consecutive points to increase Houston’s lead to 47-29 as the game began to spiral out of control. A three-pointer by Taurean Prince provided the Lakers with a much-needed bucket, but it was immediately nullified when Green made his own three.

Despite persistent difficulties in closing the half, the Lakers entered halftime trailing 66-45.

An attempt by the Lakers to reestablish themselves in the contest would have been confined to the early stages of the third quarter. Nonetheless, Green and the Rockets maintained their hot streak, whereas the Lakers were unable to generate much offensive activity.

LeBron contributed to the comeback by converting a three-point attempt in the middle of the third to reduce the deficit to 20.

The Lakers appeared to be on the verge of mounting a comeback, but the Rockets responded immediately in kind and ultimately held a 99-71 lead after three quarters.

Darvin Ham prematurely raised the white flag when the game was essentially out of reach; as a result, the Lakers would go on to lose easily.