Los Angeles Lakers v Houston Rockets
(Photo : Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 10: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers puts up a layup during the second quarter of a game against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on January 10, 2021 in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.

The Los Angeles Lakers dampened the Houston Rockets, 120-102, as the LeBron-AD connection remains deadly for the LakeShow. 

The win allowed the Los Angeles Lakers to remain sitting at the top spot of the Western Conference with an 8-3 win-loss record.  

The Lakers' scoring barrage was opened by the King himself, LeBron James, who cruised for the first basket and slammed it home. 

But the first quarter did not go smooth throughout as an altercation between Markieff Morris and DeMarcus Cousins interrupted the game with only 10 minutes of action remaining before the second canto.

This happened when Morris knocked down Jae'Sean Tate off the ball for positioning at the paint. Cousins, who was also in the shaded area, responded with a forearm shiver that sent the Lakers forward to the floor, ESPN reported.

Unsurprisingly, Morris was not pleased, and he jumped and went back at Cousins with a shove of his own, that tossed him out of the game.

According to CBS Sports, the altercation did not stop there. With only about a minute gone at the start of the second quarter, DeMarcus Cousins, who stayed in the game after the initial altercation, drew a hard foul onto a driving LeBron James after swapping hard at the ball.

When the officials reviewed the foul committed and checked it on the monitor, they determined that Boogie Cousins indeed committed two flagrant fouls due to the contact to the head, which put him also out of the game. 

However, the hard foul did not slow down James as he orchestrated a Laker run in the second quarter wherein he dropped dimes to his teammates, which were converted into points and also hitting long bombs, Lakers Daily reported.

The Brow, Anthony Davis, also went perfect during the first half of the game, where he dropped an early 8 out of 8 shooting on the floor with a variety of shots, challenging the Rockets center in the post.

The Houston Rockets, led by their guards James Harden and John Wall, came alive at the third, cutting the then more than 20-point lead of the Lakers to almost a single digit. However, the second unit of the Lakers thwarted the Rockets' comeback. 

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Montrezl Harrell, alongside Kyle Kuzma and Talen Horton-Tucker, led the Lakers' offense in the fourth quarter, with Harrell anchoring the offense and the defense on the paint.

Both James and Davis only played for 30 minutes apiece, but the result was the same as the Lakers displayed a well-balanced performance coming from the starters and the bench. The LakeSquad exhibited a 50 percent shooting as a team.

LeBron scored 18 points with seven rebounds and seven assists, while Davis finished with 27 points, along with four rebounds and an assist.

Cousins' ejection in the game due to the two flagrant fouls he committed also opened the paint for the Lakers, where they had 62 points.

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