The Rockets stayed alive in their series against the Los Angeles Lakers tonight with a resounding win in a game the Rockets absolutely had to have, and the Lakers absolutely did not. Sure, the Lakers would no doubt have chosen to finish the Rockets off in four, after the Rockets unlikely, and painful, late collapse on Friday, but such was not to be.
The Rockets commence the game with energy on both defense and offense, and also doing something they’ve done little of in the previous three games: making
shots. At no point have the Lakers score many points against the Rockets – 96pts tonight, 112 (11 in OT) on Friday’s game three, 101 in game two, and 98 in game one. Los Angeles has averaged 99 points per game in the series. Despite the heroic of Lebron James, Luke “The Duck” Kennard, and Deandre Ayton, that’s not exactly a scoring outburst from a Lakers squad missing its two best players. A team that is serious about winning in the playoffs should expect to score more than 100 points per game in regular time. Tonight would mark the first time the Rockets have done so.
What the Rockets have lacked, obviously, is scoring. If game holding an opponent to around 100 points is lost, it is the offense, not the defense, that has failed. Tonight, the Rockets finally got some offense, and it was enough to bury Los Angeles in a game that was clearly over midway through the fourth quarter. I know, no Rockets lead can be considered safe, but Lakers coach JJ Reddick threw in the towel fairly early in this one, realizing perhaps that putting more mileage on Lebron James in a losing cause wouldn’t help the Lakers.*
Tonight the Rockets started Reed Sheppard, Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, Jabari Smith and Alperen Sengun. Kevin Durant apparently has a bone bruise in his knee, one whose severity has been reported as the sort that might keep him out two to three weeks in the regular season. He was apparently receiving treatment for this injury during Friday’s game. I don’t think we’ll see Durant next game, and if there’s a game six, probably not then either.
Tonight Durant wasn’t needed, as the Rockets played for much of the game, coherent offense. No Rocket took a great number of shots, and no Rocket had a particularly grisly shooting night, with the exception of Jabari Smith, who otherwise played a good game. Despite poor shooting, he contributed 16pts, with a good bit coming from 6-6 Ft. He also added 8rbs, 3ast, 3stls.
Tari Eason had a very good night, scoring 20pts on 7-10 shooting. 2-5 from three, 4-4FT, with 8rebs, 2ast, 5stl, 1blk. Reed Sheppard started his third game of the series, but had his best one by far, scoring 17pts on 6-12 shooting, 5-7 from three point range, 1-1FT, with 3ast and 3stl.
The best night probably belonged to Amen Thompson, who had 23pts, on 10-15fg, 3-3Ft, 4rbs, 7ast, 1stl. Sengun had a tougher night, most due to his inability to shoot free throws well. He scored 19 on 6-12fg, but was 7-13 on free throws. He grabbed 6rbs. had 2ast, 1stl. 1blk.
The bench was a real contributor to the win. Instead of scoring under 5 points, it had 20. We saw a decent outing from Dorian Finney-Smith, whose numbers weren’t great, but who didn’t hurt the team in his minutes. Probably his best game as a Rocket. The best off the bench was Josh Okogie, who was simply a menace all night. His stat line of 5pts, 4rbs. 1ast, 3stls really doesn’t convey the fact that he was simply everywhere, and played excellent individual defense, tonight.
Despite the point total of the Lakers being much the same as in previous games, the Rockets defensively played with more force and animation. They did what they do when they are at their best: they attacked. The scheme was beaten many times, but the Rockets also compiled a whopping 17 steals. The Lakers had 23 turnovers, and 17 of them were definitely liveball, in the form of steals. That can swing a game, and it’s a big part of tonight’s win.
With any reasonable luck, this series could be tied 2-2. With any reasonable offense, it could be over, in the Rockets favor. As things have turned out, game five awaits in Los Angeles on Wednesday (a nice two days off for 41 year old LeBron James, who looked tired tonight for the first time in the series, the one day between games 3 and 4 was no doubt conincidental.) The Rockets would have to win three more games to advance. Three more outings like tonight would do that.
Looking ahead, because we still can, Game Five awaits, Wednesday.
* Tonight it was announced that Lebron James was playing in his 276th playoff game. This means that Lebron has played more playoff games than Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith, Tari Eason and Reed Sheppard have played regular season games. Alperen Sengun has played 25 more regular season games than LeBron has playoff games.
