The Lakers hit the Rockets so hard that James Harden was eliminated from the team

It didn’t work a few days ago Great for the Houston Rocketsbut they probably went better than ever this season. The team had just beaten that Orlando Magic by 32 points to bring their record to 3-4, and the next day, James Harden – who, in case you missed him, has gone through a very public and embarrassing trade demand saga this season – at least admitted he was there positive aspects of these missiles and at best recognized the possibility of a future in Houston.

Even after losing their next game against the LakersThings didn’t look bad. The team was still close to .500 and on the day between games Kevin O’Connor from The Ringer reported that the Front Office “became more and more confident that Harden would be content to hold out at least the rest of the season,” although he also wrote that “sources say Harden would still prefer to be treated”.

Then … well, then the Lakers happened. Or, to be more precise, the Lakers were at their peak. The Rockets never took the lead on Tuesday, and the Lakers increased the deficit up to 30 at one point in a game that was realistically over at halftime. Los Angeles essentially spent 48 minutes clowning the team They are just men swept out of the playoffs.

After the game, Harden no longer spoke of “a chance to do something special”.

To recap, the Lakers have won their last six games against the Rockets, including four in the playoffs, and now – after beating a Houston team, people actually thought they had such a bad shot in the postseason against her for having Harden on the organization where he won his only MVP award and spent most of his career – they trampled her so thoroughly in two regular season games that Harden moved from positive things to press conferences while his teammates shot at him in the media.

So, in case you’ve been wondering how stressful it is to play against a Lakers team with locked versions of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, we have empirical evidence that the answer is “stressful enough to implode a team twice.” “or” demoralizing “enough to move you from cautious optimism to a re-ignited tire fire. “

I mean fine for the Lakers, but Houston, you officially have a problem. Once again. I’m sorry.

For more Lakers Speak up, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.