The Los Angeles Lakers faced a second straight big game with heavy playoff implications on Monday when they hosted the Houston Rockets. They came into this game in fourth place in the Western Conference with a 45-29 record, while the Rockets were 3.5 games ahead of them in second place at 49-26.
The Rockets are one of the NBA's best teams defensively and on the boards, and true to form, this game was an ugly slugfest. Both teams had trouble making shots throughout the night at an acceptable rate, which meant that this game was decided on effort, grit and resourcefulness.