Charles Barkley rips Rockets after Game 1 loss to Lakers: ‘Awful to watch’

The Rockets didn’t just drop Game 1. They caught heat. Plenty of it.

Following a 107-98 road loss to the Lakers, Charles Barkley didn’t hold back while analyzing Houston’s offense on ESPN’s Inside the NBA.

“It was awful to watch,” said Barkley, a former Rocket himself. “That’s the way their offense is. They just play one-on-one basketball. It’s better when it’s Kevin Durant and (Alperen Sengun), but they don’t run plays. It’s like everybody goes one-on-one. You look at that game, you’re like what are they doing?”

Barkley kept going.

“Whoever gets it, shoots it. If you look at them through the entire regular season, they don’t have a point guard, but they have Kevin Durant to cover up all their flaws,” he said. “I have no idea what kind of offense they’re running. Whoever gets it just jacks it up anywhere, any time.”

That was without Durant, who missed the opener with a knee injury. The numbers reflected it. Houston shot just 37.6 percent from the field and struggled to find any consistent rhythm.

Kenny Smith saw issues on the other end, too.

“I just don’t think they’re following a game plan or THE game plan,” Smith said. “If you’re staying home with guys and running shooters off the line, you eliminate easy looks. That didn’t happen. There was no game plan that was followed.”

The Lakers, meanwhile, looked comfortable.

LeBron James played facilitator, Luke Kennard caught fire for 27 points, and Los Angeles took control of the series early despite missing key backcourt pieces.

“The Rockets have a problem now,” Barkley said. “The Lakers think they can win this series now. If they mess around and win Game 2, Houston is in serious trouble.”

Game 2 is set for Tuesday night in Los Angeles. Houston entered the series believing it had the edge. One game later, that belief may already be shifting.

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