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Lakers vs. Rockets final score: Lakers devastated during 108-90 loss

The Lakers lost more than a basketball game in their season opener.

Stephen Dunn

The Los Angeles Lakers couldn't keep up with the Houston Rockets' three-point shooting, dropping their home opener 108-90. James Harden led all scorers with 32 points, living at the free-throw line. Trevor Ariza put in 16 points while draining five of his eight three-point attempts. Kobe Bryant's return was mostly a success, finishing the night with 19 points on 17 field goal attempts.

One loss doesn't matter right now, though. Julius Randle suffered a devastating injury in his first career game as a professional basketball player. This will likely sideline his NBA career for the remainder of the season. Randle suffered the injury in the fourth quarter, and the game continued on, but there's not much more to say about it.

All you can do is hope Randle is able to use this as motivation, doesn't let this eat away at him, and has a successful recovery.

A basketball game happened, but there are 81 more of them to observe, dissect, and talk about. Shots will swish through nets, shots will clank off rims. It's hard to concentrate on this particular game, though, because a 19-year-old just had his dream put on hold, and one of the flickering lights of hope for this season of Lakers basketball was just blown out for the time being.

Get well, Julius. Stay strong, Lakers fans.

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