- Report: Lakers are trying to figure out whether Kyrie Irving’s trade request is legitimate or not
- Report: Lakers not willing to include Austin Reaves or Max Christie in potential Kyrie Irving deal
- Report: Lakers could include Patrick Beverley and Lonnie Walker IV in Kyrie Irving trade or separate deal entirely
- Report: Lakers would trade Russell Westbrook and 2 1st-round picks in potential deal for Kyrie Irving
- Report: Lakers could have interest in Atlanta’s Bogdan Bogdanovic
- Report: Kyrie Irving has maintained interest in Lakers as they emerge as potential suitors alongside Mavericks and Suns
- Report: Lakers no longer trying to preserve cap space for 2023 free agency
- Report: Lakers believe they’re 1 move away from being legitimate title contenders
- Report: Lakers have had exploratory trade talks involving Russell Westbrook with Jazz
- Report: Teams still want 1st-round pick to take on Russell Westbrook’s contract
Austin Rivers Offers Bold Message About Facing Lakers: ‘We’ve Been Waiting for This’
- Updated: September 6, 2020
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The Houston Rockets convincingly defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals earlier this week.
According to Rockets guard Austin Rivers, Houston has been looking forward to facing the Lakers for quite some time.
“We’ve been waiting for this — you know what I mean?,” Rivers told Sam Amick of The Athletic. “I mean we’ve been waiting to play (the Lakers). Who doesn’t want to play the Lakers? We all grew up watching the Showtime Lakers, and Kobe Bryant. And now, (they have) arguably the greatest player of all time — you’ve got LeBron (James) there. It’s a fun thing to go against, to compete against. You get up for that. Anybody who says they’re not is lying.
“We don’t talk about it. It’s just a competitive thing. It’s no different than you guys (in the media) being excited to (cover) it. You want to cover it for a reason because you know that it’s an exciting team and they’re the Lakers.”
That excitement was evident in Game 1 of the series. After a fairly competitive game through the first three quarters, the Rockets pulled away in the final frame on their way to a 112-97 victory.
Rivers had a solid night coming off the bench, scoring 10 points in just 16 minutes of playing time.
Game 1 marked the second opening game of a series that the Lakers came out flat in.
They lost Game 1 against the Portland Trail Blazers, 100-93. They then dominated in Game 2 and for the rest of the series, against the Blazers.
It will be interesting to see if they are able to replicate that success against the Rockets going forward.
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