Houston Rockets lose season opener to Lakers – Player Grades and Recap

B. It wasn’t an especially efficient shooting night from behind the arc (1 of 7), but it’s hard to put this on Harden’s back. Yes, he is now the leader, so it’s up to him to get the team communicating which they were not. But, he did virtually everything else. By the half he had 16 points and 14 assists (yes, you read that correctly). By night’s end Harden had 34 points, 17 assists, had been to the line 16 times connecting on all free throws save for one and collected 8 rebounds. In an ongoing story line Harden turned the ball over 7 times (half of the teams’ total). As great as Harden’s offensive output was the fact he has claimed the leadership mantel means the onus is on him to make sure the team is working as a unit. When he was dropping dimes all over the court but they weren’t pulling ahead he should have assembled the squad and made sure they locked down defensively. You can live with a team who is scoring in spite of solid defense, but not putting in any effort and allowing a team like the Lakers to score 63 first half points is unacceptable. Does it all fall on Harden? No, but as the leader with the team revamped to suit his desires means he’ll get the accolades in success, but also carry the burden in the defeats. That and his 7 turnovers cost him a full grade.. Point Guard. . James<br /> Harden

B-. Gordon has delivered (at least in my opinion) so far. He’s looked much better on defense than I expected. He was far from the worse offender and at least attempted to stop his man and communicate, which is more than a few of his counterparts. D’Antoni ideally wants Gordon coming off the bench and I wonder why he didn’t stick with that choice. KJ McDaniels should have started as it could have at least put another defender on the court. Curiously D’Antoni barely used McDaniels, and by the time he got in the game the Lakers were already comfortable. In 34 minutes Gordon scored 19 points adding 5 rebounds and a steal.. Shooting Guard. . Eric<br /> Gordon

Trevor<br /> Ariza. C-. Another poor shooting night for Ariza, who at least attempted to be active which resulted in 2 steals. He also had 5 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. Clearly Ariza needs help especially trying to make up one of his teammates deficiencies (see below).. Small Forward.

D. In the category of it’s only 1 game BUT – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<br /> Ryan Anderson got paid the big bucks to offer assassin type outside shooting. On this night he failed, shooting 2 of 7 from outside. His box score is not indicative of how poorly he played defensively. Repeatedly Anderson required his teammates to provide help defense, but was poor at communicating that. Inevitably it put Capela, Ariza, and whoever shared the front court with him exposed. He finished with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assists and 2 steals. Also of note Anderson had just 1 personal foul. I’d rather see him take 3 or 4 more fouls. At least if he’s going to get beat, do something to stop your man instead of allowing easy scores. <p>comfortable in the Rockets system. That said, it’s still early and<br /> Anderson will have time to adjust given this Rockets’ juggernaut on<br /> offense. There are moments he seems a bit lost on defense, so we’ll hope<br /> he adapts on that end quickly. To that end, tonight he was far better<br /> on the opponents side of the court posting a team high plus<br /> 15</p>. Power Forward. . Ryan<br /> Anderson

. Clint Capela. A-. For a while Harden and Capela were running the pick in roll to such perfection I was confused why the stopped running it. Certainly it wasn’t because the Lakers stopped the set. Hard to knock Capela either, as he played well and his effort was clear on the defensive end, but again Anderson forced him to have to defend more than his own yard. He shot 8 of 11 from the field for 16 points, fell 1 rebound shy of a double-double with 9 rebounds (3 offensive), had a block and was second only to Harden with a plus +8 differential.. Center

B. Why D’Antoni elected not to start McDaniels is beyond me. What everyone I spoke to during the game kept asking was why he didn’t play more and didn’t start. And, this is not directed at Gordon, rather it would have allowed the Rockets to start the game with more intensity defensively with Ariza, Capela and McDaniels. In spite of his few minutes (12) he was perfect from the field (5 of 5) scored 11 points, added a rebound and was the only reserve with a plus differential.. Small Forward. . KJ<br /> McDaniels

Jordan Clarkson. A+. I’ve long said Clarkson would be the ideal 6th man for the Lakers and apparently Luke Walton is of the same school of thought. Clarkson exploded in the fourth quarter collecting 12 of his 25 points hitting some ridiculous shots with Rockets in his face and draped all over him. The dagger came at 1:48 of the fourth quarter when Clarkson hit a three to put his Lakers up by 4 points. That said, if the Rockets had played any defense in the first half arguably his fourth quarter never matters.. Shooting Guard.