HOUSTON • The Los Angeles Lakers are the sixth-highest scoring team in the National Basketball Association, averaging 114.2 points per game. But it was their defence that took centre stage on Saturday night.
Playing at the Houston Rockets, who are the second-highest scoring team in the league this season with 118.6 points, the Western Conference leaders knew something had to change going into the third quarter.
The hosts were leading by six points at half-time, spearheaded by 22 from Russell Westbrook and looking comfortable, before Rajon Rondo made a coaching suggestion.
The veteran guard missed his second game in a row owing to a fractured finger, but still made a telling contribution from courtside.
He told Kyle Kuzma to shadow Westbrook instead and it paid off as the 2017 Most Valuable Player added just 13 more points in the next two quarters, finishing with a game-high 35 points.
The Lakers' defence turned the tide in the third, which they won 32-17, before going on to beat the Rockets 124-115 to improve to 34-8.
Kuzma was potent at both ends, chipping in with 23 points. LeBron James produced his 31st double-double - a team-high 31 points with a game-high 12 assists - to steward the visitors, who were missing Anthony Davis for the fifth straight game.
They also rebounded after their nine-game winning run was ended by the Orlando Magic last Wednesday, a sign that "we continue to get better".
James said: "We want to stay on an even keel throughout the season, it's an 82-game season, and we did that.
"We had a chance to reshape, refocus and start the second half of the season the right way, and we did that."
On limiting Westbrook's output, Kuzma said: "Just keep him in front. I'm confident in myself defensively. Just try to keep him in front, take tough shots and just not foul.
"These guys, they look for fouls. And if you keep them off the line, it bodes pretty well for you.
"Westbrook was really hurting us in the first half... In the second half, that kind of got eliminated, putting a bigger body on him."
This was the Rockets' first meeting with the Lakers this season, but they failed to show their championship credentials, slumping to sixth in the West (26-15).
After suffering their third successive defeat and fourth in five games, James Harden, who had 34 points, later admitted "we're going through a tough time".
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