The Houston Rockets (22 - 20) defeated the Los Angeles Lakers (9 - 34) 112 - 95 at Staples Center on Sunday. James Harden came into the contest as the NBA’s second leading scorer with 28 point per game and exceeded his yearly mark to lead all scorers with 31 points, to go along with three rebounds and five assists. While 31 points is not breaking news, it is impressive that Harden did it in just over 27 minutes of play and on 10 - of - 17 shooting. Dwight Howard and Clint Capela dominated the glass, and proved to be far too much for the Lakers frontcourt to handle, as both bigs combined for 26 rebounds alongside 14 points each. The rebounding battle, 51 - 36, was heavily in favor of Houston, who disallowed the Lakers to keep most offensive possessions alive, after holding the young opposition to just three offensive rebounds. Ty Lawson, Marcus Thornton and Montrezl Harrell provided double figures off the bench and saw increased minutes in the fourth quarter, after the Rockets were comfortably ahead by 20 points throughout most of the second half. The Rockets will stay in Los Angeles and face the Clippers (26 - 14) in the second game of a back - to - back on Monday. The Lakers were handed another loss and the 10 win mark of the season continues to be an uphill battle. Coming off a loss to the Utah Jazz on Saturday, the Lakers improved upon their shot selection, as seen by 45 percent shooting as a unit. Los Angeles entered the half down only three points, but the same storyline troubles the team: youth, inexperience and rebounding. Julius Randle seems to be busting out of his slump and pitched in a double - double with 12 points and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes, however, he did lose the matchup with Clint Capela, who beat Randle with speed and strength on the glass. Kobe Bryant played more of a point guard oriented role, scoring five points on five shots while dishing out nine assists. Most of Randle’s baskets were easy handoffs from Bryant as he would storm the lane, draw the double team, and find his sophomore forward waiting patiently for an easy dunk. Lou Williams shot more efficiently en route to a second straight 20 points performance and Jordan Clarkson rounded out the stat sheet with 16 points, three assists, three rebounds and two steals. The Lakers will host the Sacramento Kings (17 - 23) on Wednesday.
["TeamStat(G,'Lakers') has 45 Percentage of field goals ,has 34 Losses ,has 95 Total points ,has 36 Rebounds ,has 9 Wins ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Rockets') has 20 Percentage of field goals ,has 112 Losses ,has 51 Total points ,has 22 Rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Clint Capela') has 14 Assists ,has 11 Field goals attempted ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Dwight Howard') has 14 Assists ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'James Harden') has 5 Assists ,has 17 Field goals attempted ,has 10 Field goals made ,has 27 Minutes played ,has 31 Points ,has 3 Total rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Kobe Bryant') has 9 Assists ,has 5 Field goals attempted ,has 5 Field goals made ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Julius Randle') has 26 Assists ,has 12 Field goals attempted ,has 11 Field goals made ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Lou Williams') has 20 Assists ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Jordan Clarkson') has 3 Assists ,has 16 Field goals attempted ,has 3 Field goals made ,has 2 Minutes played ."]