Lakers vs Rockets: Three things to know

Lack of bench production

Dec 7, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr. (7) and forward Luol Deng (9) attempt to steal the ball from Houston Rockets forward Trevor Ariza (1) as forward Montrezl Harrell (5) looks on in the second quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Usually it’s the bench that has saved the Lakers this season. It was not the case when they visited Houston, as the team struggled right out of the gate.

Los Angeles has been able to depend on their non-starters, but even they have an off game every once in a while.

This time around, the Lakers were out-scored 64-44 with respect to their bench, and it only went south from there.

Walton acknowledged he may have to separate the bench duo of Clarkson and Williams due to the “amount of people going down” to injury.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) December 6, 2016

Lou Williams came off 38 and 40 point performances to lead the bench and team with 24 on Wednesday night.

Julius Randle was second in team scoring, with 21 of his own, but he was in the starting lineup, so it was expected. Brandon Ingram also stepped up, scoring 12 points and grabbing seven boards.

If the Lakers expect to stop their now-four game skid, they’ll have to see more from their bench against Phoenix on Friday.