Los Angeles Lakers fans can always count on the team being part of the Christmas Day slate every NBA season and the 2025-26 campaign is no different as they took on the Houston Rockets.
The Lakers and Rockets are both currently in contention for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, so their Christmas Day clash was a good measuring stick game for both teams. The star power in Los Angeles makes them an attractive primetime squad to watch, but they put up one of their worst performances of the season against Houston.
The Lakers lost 119-96 to the Rockets and the game was never particularly close as the purple and gold looked a step slow the entire evening. There were numerous instances where Los Angeles looked out of sync, though it wasn’t always because of Houston’s physical and relentless defensive pressure.
Jake LaRavia, like most of his teammates, struggled to get much going against the Rockets and after the game he admitted he can’t necessarily pinpoint why he and the Lakers aren’t on the same page right now.
“I couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t tell you. I think there might be a disconnect right now,” LaRavia said. “But we’ll get on track. Have this meeting, what JJ was talking about, and hopefully the uncomfortability of it can kind of move us in the right direction.”
Head coach JJ Redick didn’t hide his displeasure with the group following the blowout loss, calling out their effort and saying that their next practice would be an uncomfortable one for the players. Redick can wear his emotions on his sleeve at times, but he’s absolutely correct that L.A. just doesn’t seem to want to give the requisite effort to win games on a nightly basis.
LaRavia may play an important role off the bench, but he’s just one piece of the puzzle. LaRavia’s been a solid two-way player in his first year with the Lakers, but he’ll need to show that he can do more to help get this team out of its rut.
There is a lot of time left in the season to turn things around, but the purple and gold need to prove that they want to change how things have been going.
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Marcus Smart gives all-out effort night after night, but defensively the Lakers are still struggling to string together stops. Smart believes they need to figure out the defense before it’s too late for them.
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