ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Lakers 4/18/2026 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 1)

This is a underrated take.

 

THIS....

 

You probably meant the end of 3rd and 4th Quarter.

I did go to bed bc it was not worth it and got a time zone situation myself.

They played better and Tari came alive.......I believe Udoka was not totally dumb and it was too late though.

Can't fault Barkley for not watching either ....hmmm.

 

This game, hustle level and coaching:

 

Good vid. Shows how much of CF are just delusional looking for a scapegoat

 

Wow really?

Eye test - Oklahoma offense is not based on ball movement or some Mark Daigneault brilliance - they are very much predicated on ferocious historically great TO forcing defense and 1 on 1 pla by historically great Shai. They run lots of isod & 2 man game predicated off him. Sure they use dives & cuts but so does literally every team including the Rockets

Their offense goes in the toilet this year when SGA sits - they literally lose 10 points of o rating - that's the Daigneaut offense

Here is what I think when I see people like you, Chuck & lots of folks in this thread posting about ISO

They see one team not make shots - they decide after the fact it must be because they run isolation

They see another team make shots, they decide after the fact it must be they run plays

The eye test and the tracking data both say you're wrong - go back & read the game thread. People are screaming "ISO" when the Rockets run 5 DHO screens & have 3 cuts on a possession - it's silly

 

If we’re being honest, the Warriors had the same scheme in last year’s playoffs against us as well. Sag off because they know we can’t shoot. Same issues with Dillion and Jalen on the team. Jalen couldn’t play to his strengths with the paint clogged up which ended up getting him shipped out.

Sengun - can’t shoot
Amen - can’t shoot
Jabari - inconsistent
Reed - inconsistent/streaky
Tari - inconsistent
Josh O - can’t shoot
Tate - can’t shoot
Capela - can’t shoot
DFS - can’t shoot this year
Aaron - doesn’t see enough playing time
Jeff - doesn’t play

 

You don't watch them enough, Wallace, Mitchell, SGA, Dub all make the extra pass....

And there are enough highlights of Hartenstein and Jaylin Will throwing lobs and bounce passes all over the place.

DHOs are elite.

Their Half court Offense improved by leaps and bounds in 1 year.

Why else do you think SGA could sit out 4th Quarters of like 35 games.....

 

Absolutely. When Amen was slashing in he was met by a small army who can leave their man alone because they know they can’t make them pay for it. Spacing is awful when you have so few outside threats. No coach in the world is gonna fix that.

 

This was actually the most outrageous thing we did. Amen should have been on LeBron all night. I don’t know why the F you wouldn’t put your best wing defender on the best wing player who’s surgically dissecting our defense. He put an undersized Okogie on LeBron and Okogie did his best but he doesn’t have the length or strength to deal with LeBron obviously.

Further, we went all f*cking season with Ime on flooding the floor with too many defenders and then the one time he should be doing that he decides to start Reed Sheppard.

Sorry but when you shoot sub 40% on offense AND the defense sucked - then it’s no longer the players. That’s the entire game of basketball: offense and defense. If EVERYTHING goes bad, it’s systemic. There are clues that this was the plan rather than poor execution: we achieved the low turnovers and high rebounds that Ime dreams of.

This is not new either. Every first round series Ime has ever been in has been ugly. He’s had superstars and it’s been ugly. He’s had FVV and it’s been ugly. He’s been the first and second seed and it’s been ugly. Now he’s gone up against the worst team in the entire playoffs and it’s looking ugly.

The idea that this has to do with injuries or refs or luck or players is bullshit. In 15 career first round playoff games, the only time Ime’s team has ever looked good is if some player made their 3’s at waaaaaaay above their average. That has nothing to do with him.

Sorry to vent but I just woke up in my time zone hoping the game I watched was a nightmare but it turns out it’s all real.

Hope the players bail his ass out because it looks like Reddick is going to run circles around this idiot.

 

After a cup of coffee this morning, I sat down for a rewatch (don’t recommend - 0 stars out of 5, by the way). Few thoughts:

- the team looked like a team that was expecting to have their star player, and then was shocked when they didn’t. To me, that is completely on coaching. The injury was on Wednesday. If you thought there was even a chance he’s not playing, you need to have a better scheme offensively. It looked just random – give it to _____ and let them try to make a play. To be fair, that’s how it looks anyway under Ime, but that is a big issue.

- We need more Alpi-Reed P&R. Why is it that we are giving the ball to Alpi at the 3 point line and then let him dribble into traffic? Why not run a pick and roll or give him the ball in the block and let him make a play.

- Amen got absolutely hammered on many drives. I understand this is “playoff “basketball, but you can’t just hit a guy’s arm as he’s trying to shoot or hit him in the head as he’s going up for a layup or dunk. Absolutely ridiculous.

- I love how LeBron can point a finger at a ref multiple times and they just shrug at him. Isn’t that kind of a demonstrative showing up of a ref? The grace he is granted is ridiculous. Plus, I’m pretty sure he’s the one who overturned shooting foul versus ball out on the side on one of those plays. Yet, when Tate is called for something and he gets up and says what did I do, immediately a T.

- The silver lining here is that with or without KD, I don’t see that young Rockets core going 23/66 again. If they even go 28/66 with a couple of 3s, they win. But, the coaching staff needs to figure out some plays, which might be difficult in 72 hours, considering our normal “plays” are to give it to one of our two stars and let their talent win those matchups. But, Alpi needs to be better. We need him.

 

Say it with me... "After the review of the call with King James, the call has been overturned"

 

It's criminal Ime didn't go small and push pace. Play:

Sheppard
Okogie
Thompson
Eason
Smith

Push tempo and make them want to dump it into the paint for Ayton to be offensive focus over Kennard/Rui.

Wear down LeBron as much as possible.

If he's defending anyone with offensive game, we should target LeBron on the defensive end and wear him down. It will affect his ability to make crisp passes to their shooters.

Also, STOP having Sengun initiate the offense outside the 3pt line. It's a horrible system. He needs to be no higher than the elbow. He's most effective passing from the paint, not playing off the dribble. It's screwing up spacing... collapse a double team on him in the post and let him find open shooters.

 

Yeah, tate should have pointed out if LeBron doesn't get a tech, he shouldn't either. Make is a story in the series and draw pressure from the refs to ignore LeBron knowing people are watching for it.

 

Can’t stand him. The worst was when Jackson had him on LOR for two episodes back to back. Yuck!

 

The two plays that summed up everything last night was late in the 4th quarter, Reed Sheppard had a PnR that opened up a wide open corner 3 for.... Amen Thompson, (who airballed of course).

Then the following play was another setup for another wide open corner 3 for Josh Okogie, who probably knew he was going to clank and decided to cut to the rim inexplicably so the pass sailed over his head.

 

Again all this data is tracked - feel free to prove it rather than telling me what you saw on highlights.

 

21 second chance points for the Lakers

Rockets can't pass on fast breaks or even know off ball opening angles for layups

Alperen Sengun had Amen Thompson open for Dunks but kept shooting deep brick hook shots instead of passing the ball to a open teammate.

Why is Sengun not deep in the post instead of 3 point line. Is Ime Udoka that much of a idiot. In pick and roll defense Ayton destroyed Sengun.

Why was Reed Sheppard being posted up by Smart and why teammates didn't quickly double team.

 

How many minutes did LeBron play against that lineup?

 

I am afraid the offense will be just as bad even when KD comes back. KD is going to make some tough shots, which helps, but JJ Redick is going to double KD hard and pack the paint because he knows we can’t shoot. We’ve seen our offense get shut out during the season. Even with Luka and Reaves out, if our offense gets shut down, we won’t be able to win.