Lakers vs. Rockets final score: Lakers throttled in Houston, lose fourth straight

The Los Angeles Lakers are hoping to get healthy in a hurry, and Wednesday night was the latest example of why. The men in purple and gold were absolutely crushed by the Houston Rockets by a final tally of 134-95.

The Lakers struggled right out of the gate, a trend that has been very troubling this season. Los Angeles trailed 43-25 after one before fighting back, as they usually seem to do, cutting the deficit to seven. But the firepower of the Rockets was just too much for a depleted Lakers team to handle.

To no surprise, Lou Williams led the way for the Lakers once again with 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Julius Randle tallied yet another double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds while Brandon Ingram continued to show flashes, connecting on two of his four three-point attempts en route to 12 points and seven rebounds.

Unfortunately, the list of key contributors for the Rockets was much longer. Seven players scored in double figures for Houston, led by Eric Gordon and James Harden with 26 and 25 points, respectively. Virtually no defensive resistance from the Lakers led to a 54.3 percent shooting percentage from the Rockets as a team, including 15-of-36 from three.

While part of the issue right now for the Lakers is simply their health, or lack thereof, they still have plenty of flaws that need ironed out. The team turned the ball over 27 times on Wednesday. No matter who is in the lineup, that is a recipe for a blowout loss just about every time.

Luckily for Los Angeles, the brutal 12-game stretch is finally over, and some more winnable games are on the horizon, starting with a return home to play the Phoenix Suns on Friday night.

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