On the heels of a grueling Game 3 win, the Lakers came out flat and were subsequently routed by the Rockets, 115-96.
From the jump, it was pretty clear the Lakers didn’t have the right level of effort and played as such throughout. LA turned the ball over a staggering 23 times with the Rockets tallying 17 steals and 30 points off turnovers.
On the possession where they didn’t turn it over, they weren’t connecting on outside shots, going only 6-21, including some garbage time makes. Across the board,
it was a lackluster showing for the Lakers, who looked like a team eager to get back to LA and finish the series in Game 5.
Rui Hachimura and Reed Sheppard exchanged midrange jumpers to open the game. LA built a lead of five early, with Luke Kennard leading the team with three points. Three other starters had two points each. Houston had four players with two points.
At the 6:28 mark, Los Angeles was up by three.
LeBron James was now leading LA with six points with Kennard close behind with five. There were a lot of foul calls between the teams, with Los Angeles making seven of their nine free-throw attempts and Houston making three of four.
The purple and gold were up by three at the 3:53 mark.
After a quick four-point surge, the Rockets jumped ahead by one. A layup by Jake LaRavia put the Lakers back in the lead. Jaxson Hayes had rough minutes, picking up two fouls.
Houston retook the lead by five at the end of the first.
Jabari Smith Jr. further extended the Rockets’ lead by draining a triple to start the second period. The Lakers already had eight turnovers with Houston playing defense. The Rockets continued their desperate, strong play, extending their lead to 10.
LA was struggling from behind the arc, shooting 17%.
A sudden 10-3 scoring run found Los Angeles down by three, after Houston had built a lead as big as 10. Jake LaRavia, who had been having a tough series, had a much-needed six points off the bench.
Deandre Ayton had a strong quarter, scoring 12 points, trying to keep the Lakers close enough. At halftime, the Rockets had a nine-point lead.
Amen Thompson started the third period with a layup for Houston. Sheppard then knocked down a triple to make it a quick 14-point lead.
LA missed all three of its shot attempts. Marcus Smart then stole the ball, and it led to a layup by Kennard. Sheppard then drained yet another triple in response.
The Rockets continued to play with serious desperation, overwhelming Los Angeles, who now found themselves down by 17. Ayton was the only saving grace for the Lakers as he was now up to 19 points after scoring another four points.
In a ridiculous turn of events, Ayton was ejected with 5:41 left after making contact with the back of Alperen Şengün’s head, which was deemed a Flagrant 2 foul.
Everything spiraled from there as the Lakers continued to turn the ball over and the Rockets kept making them pay, building their lead to 25 points at the end of the third.
LA did start the final frame a little better offensively with Jarred Vanderbilt notching four points, but the deficit was too large.
With 7:25 left, the Lakers waved the white flag. With 1:11 left, the ejections continued with Adou Thiero and Aaron Holiday getting tossed because it was important for everyone to remember the refs were the important part of this game.
Key Player Stats
LeBron finished with 10 points, four rebounds and nine assists but shot just 2-9 from the field and had eight turnovers. Ayton was the Lakers’ best player prior to his ejection, finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Hachimura pitched in with 13 points and three rebounds. Kennard ended with seven points and three rebounds. LaRavia scored six points off the bench.
Marcus Smart logged nine points with two rebounds, five assists, three steals and three blocks. Vanderbilt put up eight points largely in garbage time.
Game 4 will be on Sunday against the Houston Rockets at 6:30 PM PT.
You can follow Karin on Twitter at @KarinAbcarians.
