I think we all knew this was going to happen, right?

The Lakers beat the Rockets in a “defense is optional” game, 140-132.

For most of the game, the Lakers were in control. They honestly had some chances to dump the Rockets early but Houston played with endearing recklessness. Not much to lose when the team is last in the standings and has lost 10 straight games. Alperen Şengün couldn’t be stopped. And, really, the Lakers couldn’t stop anything inside the paint.

Whenever the Rockets got close, the Lakers would put a halt to that with a run of their own. Like when Houston cut it to 64-60, the Lakers scored 9 straight and it was punctuated by this old man dunk.

I’ve run out of adjectives to say. The good kind, that is.

The Rockets not getting over the hump was a reoccurring theme throughout the game. And quite frankly, it’s maddening for the Lakers. They were up, 91-75, in the third before the deficit got cut all the way down to two. Russell Westbrook banked in a jumper to stop the bleeding.

Annoyingly, the Laker lead went back to 13 points. A bit later, Houston scored 9 straight and the deficit was down to three again. A couple of times late in the game, the Rockets were able to whittle down the lead to two but LeBron James and Russell Westbrook put a stop to their attempted rallies. The Lakers escaped with the win after making a few free throws to pad the final lead to 8.

The Lakers couldn’t protect the rim. L.A. is always great at scoring inside themselves but the Rockets outdid them, 72-60. The Rockets are excellent at crashing the offensive boards because… well… they miss a lot. But we do know that the Lakers are all about the break; 27-7 advantage in fast break points.

A lot of free throws were shot; 66 combined foul shots in the game. Houston played a relatively clean game with 8 turnovers but the Lakers did them miles better by setting a franchise-low two turnovers. Yes. Two turnovers with Russell Westbrook on the team. For an entire NBA game.

The problem is that it just seemed like the Lakers once again took the Rockets for granted. There were quite a few minutes where they were just chucking up shots instead of setting up for a good attempt. Good thing that they had the lead for most of the game; defending a lead than trying to catch up feels easier in the psyche. But the Lakers sure needed every single one of LeBron’s season-high 48 points. He also had 8 rebounds and 9 assists to go with making five threes. Again, I don’t know what else to say that hasn’t been said by everyone else.

Russell Westbrook had 24 points while Kendrick Nunn (15) and Wenyen Gabriel (14) provided great boosts off the pine. Thomas Bryant had his first bad game (1 for 6, 6 points) in a while. He got in early foul trouble and we know that he’s not the greatest (putting it mildly) on the defensive side. Hopefully, he can bounce back on the next game.

Alperen Şengün had a career-best 33 points to go along with 15 boards, 6 assists, and four blocks. I love that everyone on my Twitter timeline was sincerely saying that Houston should build around Şengün. Jalen Green caught on fire at one point and ended with 23 points. The veteran Eric Gordon ended with 19 and KJ Martin was dunking all over the place on his way to 17 points.

The Lakers didn’t play well but, at least, they won. That’s the most important thing. They get a day off before resuming activities at Crypto Dot Com Arena against a familiar foe, the Sacramento Kings.

At least, finally, the Lakers helped themselves to a win. Gotta get them however they can.