Lakers vs. Rockets Final Score: Julius Randle sets new career-high but Lakers lose 139-100

The Los Angeles Angeles once again found themselves getting run out of the building in a 139-100 loss to the Houston Rockets. Julius Randle set a new career-high, bulldozing his way to 32 points, but it wasn’t nearly enough against the high-octane Rockets.

For the third game in a row the Lakers gave up 93 points through three quarters, which is both an incredibly strange coincidence but perfectly fitting for this team. The defense, which was already problematic, has gone completely off the rails.

D’Angelo Russell’s game, or lack thereof, was equally alarming. He continued on in his role as an off-the-bench guard and the word struggle doesn’t do justice to how poorly this game went for young Russell. He fouled out in the fourth quarter, had more turnovers (7) than points (5) and missed all five of his three-point attempts.

It was arguably the worst 25 minutes of his career, filled with turnovers off of silly forced passes and a lack of any sense of urgency on either end. His transition to a new role with less than 20 games left in the season is going poorly, to say the least.

Nick Young was back in the starting lineup after receiving a stretch of DNPs, but his three-point shot decided to hang back on the bench. He missed all seven of his attempts from beyond the arc.

Lou Williams clearly had this game circled on his calendar, dropping a scorching hot 30 points on the team that traded him a few weeks ago. He made seven of his nine three point attempts and dished out seven assists, for good measure. Barbecue chicken, friends.

Yes, the Lakers lost by 39 points and James Harden only scored 18 on the night. The catch? It was part of a triple-double that included 13 assists and 12 rebounds. The Rockets blasted the Lakers out of Houston.

The Lakers now head home to tend to their wounds, hosting the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday.