On one side, Houston took 93 shots and grabbed 23 offensive rebounds. On the other side, the Lakers took just 66 shots and had only 3 offensive rebounds. Even with those numbers, we still managed to make history by losing, but it is what it is. One game’s shooting can go cold, but over a second game the math usually doesn’t lie. Still, Udoka matching Smart with Reed caused a huge disaster for us in the first half. I think Ime will fix this problem in Game 2, because the Lakers’ decision-making structure is very limited right now: LeBron, Dončić, Reaves, and Smart. In a scenario where two of them are injured, you simply cannot match Smart with Reed. That is basically suicide, and it already proved to be exactly that. But with the right matchups from Udoka in the second game, and in the scenario where KD comes back, our offense will be much more effective and the shots we take will be far more efficient.
We are underdogs even without Doncic. Reaves could drop 40 on your head. Need Sengun to average 25ppg rest of the series.
The problem is we need Reed's shooting when KD is off the floor, but I'm not sure you can have him guarding most players on the Lakers. Perhaps he would have more success against Kennard than against Smart? This series may end up being decided by which team gets more games out of KD / Luka, and if they actually look like themselves.
