So they’re not going to sweep, so what does it matter?
Did you see the Lakers fumbling and the Houston Rockets flying?
This matters.
So the Lakers absorbed their first loss to the Rockets after three wins in this first-round playoff series, a 115-96 wipeout Sunday at Houston’s Toyota Center, but because no team has ever rebounded from a three-games-to-none deficit, it doesn’t matter.
Do you realize the Rockets’ star Kevin Durant didn’t play for a second straight game, but will almost certainly return in two days for Game 5 Wednesday at Crypto.com?
This matters.
Do you realize that, while the Lakers’ Austin Reaves might play for the first time in nearly a month in Game 5, he will surely be limited, and Luka Doncic still doesn’t appear close to returning?
This matters.
This matters because, since their historic meltdown in Game 3, the energized Rockets have rediscovered their rhythm while the weary Lakers have clearly lost a step, committing 23 turnovers Sunday and having their pockets picked 17 times while missing 17 of 22 three-point attempts.
“Just a little bit of lackadaisical from us,” said Marcus Smart. “You know, shots weren’t falling early … a lot of contact … wasn’t getting the call. … We’ll be all right. It’s part of it. You know, we’ve been playing our asses off these past three, four games, right? … So, just bring it back to LA and we’ll see them there.”
A bit of lackadaisical? Excuse me?
Lakers coach JJ Redick said his team had the best of intentions, but could have used a little more help, the kind that is sitting injured on their bench. Perhaps the two major injuries are slowly catching up to them.
“It’s obviously very challenging without your two leading scorers to generate offense,” Redick said. “It goes back to … take care of the ball. … We’ll be looking at that and how we can be better.”
LeBron James entered the night having won 78% of his close-out games while averaging 29 points in those games. He knows the importance of finishing a wounded opponent. And yet….
Seemingly still exhausted after playing 45 minutes two nights earlier, he was just awful, missing eight straight shots at one point, scoring just 10 points on two baskets with eight turnovers.
“It started with me obviously,” James said. “My turnovers were unacceptable.”
Smart, James’ veteran counterpunch, was just as ineffective, making three baskets with four turnovers.
“It’s not gonna get easier,” said Smart. “We understand that, but we’ve played this team, we’ve played four games now. The first three, you know, we did very well, so we understand we’re going to continue to stay poised.”
And the third member of the Lakers’ new playoff Big Three? Perhaps Luke Kennard should no longer be part of that equation after he missed all three three-point attempts and scored just seven points.
It was appropriate that the Lakers’ best player on this night, Deandre Ayton, was sent to the locker room in the third quarter after scoring 19 points with 10 rebounds because he was deemed to have flagrantly whacked a driving Alperen Sengun in the head. It was the first ejection of the docile Ayton’s career. Even when the Lakers were good, they were bad.
History is still on the Lakers’ side, NBA teams being 159-0 when leading three games to none. But four teams have actually forced a Game 7. So it’s possible the vulnerable Lakers could be seriously threatened if they don’t seriously get their act together.
And to think, Redick warned against this sort of performance before the game even began.
“I think the challenge goes back to that word desperation,” Redick told reporters in his pregame news conference. “You still have to be the more desperate team, and particularly against really good teams, the fight or flight mentality, they’re all going to fight. And this group that they have out there, we know is going to put up a fight tonight, and we have to match their desperation.”
They didn’t. Not even close.
Houston initially still seemed demoralized after losing a six-point lead in the final 30 seconds of Game 3, as the Rockets missed five consecutive shots in the first quarter and the Lakers took a five-point lead.
But then the Lakers began regressing, the Rockets started running and eight Lakers turnovers turned into a passel of points that carried the Rockets to a 26-21 lead at the end of the opening period.
The Rockets continued to roll in the second quarter, the Lakers looking tired and James looking sore. After taking two hard falls under the basket, he missed shots badly — one trey attempt went off the side of the backboard — and fumbled away several possessions. Late in the quarter, the disparity in energy was evident when Reed Shepherd swiped a James’ dribble and raced downcourt for a fast-break layup.
The Rockets surged to a 56-47 at halftime lead before piling it on in the third quarter, which began with James missing a layup and Sheppard nailing a trey and then it really got ugly. The Rockets went on a 20-8 run to start the period and it only got worse, with even the father-son sweetness of Game 3 turned sour. Remember the cool ally-oop from James to son Bronny? Late in the third quarter, they engaged in a different sort of duet, LeBron blowing a layup seconds before Bronny fumbled the ball out of bounds. By the end of the quarter, the Rockets had outscored the Lakers 34-18 in a dozen minutes and led by 25, a margin too big for another Lakers miracle.
At 7:25 left in the game, his team down by 22, Redick finally, mercifully cleared the bench. Come Wednesday, that bench better be filled with the sort of desperation that, on a strangely sullen Sunday, was so sorely missing.
“We’ll get better,” promised Redick.
They’d better.
The post No sweep, big problem for Lakers after Game 4 loss to Rockets appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
