The young guns Los Angeles Lakers opened their season with a win against James Harden and the Houston Rockets 120-114.
The post-Kobe era has officially begun for the Lakers and the keys to the team are left to youngsters D'Angelo Russel, Jordan Clarkson, and Julius Randle. Before the start of the season, Head Coach Luke Walton said his team will have to go through many obstacles during the rebuilding process but that his players are not making it as an excuse to perform poorly and not play for each other.
The youngsters certainly did not show any signs of letting up against the high-powered Rockets. The trio of Russel, Clarkson, and Randle led the lakers to a win and spoiled Harden's big night.
Clarkson, who was removed from the starting lineup to provide firepower in the second unit, led the lakers in scoring with 25 points while Russel and Randle had 20 and 18, respectively.
Clarkson only scored two points in the first half but cranked it up a notch in the second half to score 23 more points. He shot 8-12 from the floor and made crucial plays down the stretch. He made a 3-pointer with 1:48 left in the ball game to put them up 116-112, then on their next possession he rebounded airball by Nick Young and put it back in to make the score 118-114, and then he made a steal against Harden to seal the game for the Lakers.
Harden was spectacular throughout the game. He finished the first half with 14 assists but only managed to have three in the second half. He also had 34 points and eight boards but the Rockets just couldn't stops which turned the game into a shootout. "We were scoring so easy," said Harden, "but we just couldn't get stops."
Walton couldn't be happier with their first win of the season. "Learning how to win games is part of figuring out who we are," said Walton. We did some things that could have cost just the win at the end of the game there. So obviously we can learn from that, and the fact that we still got that win, it really feels food."
