"Fire Darvin Ham": NBA fans destroy LeBron James and Lakers after trailing by 21 vs. Houston at the half

The LA Lakers struggled mightily during the first half of their road matchup against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. LA got outscored 66-45, while shooting just 42.1%, leaving fans extremely frustrated.

The Lakers are shorthanded, as they are playing without star big man Anthony Davis, who is dealing with a groin injury. However, fans still didn’t cut LA any slack. Many called out the team for its embarrassing effort:

“Lakers [are] just a disgrace,” one fan said.

“I get [that] the Lakers are injured, but they [are] deep enough to make this game more competitive, bruh,” another said.

Meanwhile, others called for Lakers coach Darvin Ham to lose his job:

“Fire Darvin Ham. I miss [Frank] Vogel. I’ve seen enough, man. Ham is awful,” one fan said.

However, some fans also praised the Rockets for their strong play:

“Rockets are so scary this season,” one fan said.

“Rockets [are] gonna sneak [into] the playoffs this year. Ime [Udoka] got that team playing elite defense,” another said.

Here are a few more of the top fan reactions to the Lakers’ struggles against the Rockets:

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Houston Rockets looking to secure 4th straight win

LA Lakers superstar forward LeBron James and Houston Rockets big man Alperen Sengun

The Houston Rockets (3-3) are looking to secure their fourth straight win on Wednesday following their 0-3 start to the season.

Houston is coming off comfortable wins over the Charlotte Hornets and Sacramento Kings (twice). After their 122-97 blowout victory over the Kings on Monday, Rockets big man Alperen Sengun spoke about his team’s improved play.

Sengun highlighted the Rockets’ increased effort on defense as a primary reason for their success:

“We’re playing like animals out there right now,” Sengun said.

“Everyone is tough, physical, everyone is helping each other. Nobody is getting easy points anymore. We need to keep it up all year.”

Rockets coach Ime Udoka also raved about his team’s toughness:

“I loved our aggressiveness at the start,” Udoka said.

“They came out with some more physicality and tried to increase their pressure, and we handled it well and kind of threw it back at them.”

After finishing just 22-60 last season (14th in the Western Conference), Houston was expected to once again be a bottom-feeder in the West this season. However, through their first six games, the Rockets rank 13th in both offensive rating (111.7) and defensive rating (110.5).

So, the Rockets appear to be trending up and could be a surprise play-in/playoff team in 2024.