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The Rockets head to L.A. to take on a Lakers squad that they defeated 126-97 less than a week ago in what was their most impressive and complete performance of the season. The win got them back to .500 and was a glimmer of hope in an otherwise gloomy first quarter of the season.
The Rockets have lost two straight since then to fall to 12-14, and as often happens when a team underachieves, reports have begun to surface about unhappiness and trade requests, and the Rockets have been in the press for all the wrong reasons.
There's one easy way to shut up that chatter, though, and that's to start winning. Then, nothing else matters.
It'd be nice to see another complete performance against this Lakers team on national TV. That's a great step in the right direction.