A largely lifeless offensive performance from the Lakers saw the Rockets take a second consecutive win in the series in Game 5 on Wednesday, 99-93. The purple and gold still lead the series 3-2.
While Austin Reaves returned for the contest and eclipsed 20 points, few other Lakers showed up as offense was hard to come by yet again. The Lakers shot 42.1% from the field and 25.9% from the 3-point line. Paired with 15 turnovers leading to 18 Houston points and the Lakers were forced to play catch-up most
of the night.
The Lakers led for most of the first quarter-and-a-half, but eventually fell behind by double digits for chunks of the second half. A pair of comebacks in the final minutes saw them close the gap to three on two occassions but never any closer.
Marcus Smart had the first five points for the Lakers to kick off the game, offsetting early buckets from Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason. The Lakers parlayed a Rockets turnover into a Rui Hachimura dunk and a Smart 3-pointer gave the hosts an early four-point lead.
Ayton finished a lob from Smart and put back a Rui missed jumper to force the first timeout of the game with LA up 14-9 just past the midway point of the quarter.
Austin Reaves checked into the game during the break for his first action in just under a month and immediately found Ayton on a pair of feeds in the pick and roll, the latter leading to a basket. After throwing a terrible lob to LeBron James, he got his first points of the night with a long-range pull-up 3-pointer, putting LA up 19-13.
Reaves quickly found his groove with a lefty layup before drawing a foul on a three. Following a LeBron reverse layup off a Jake LaRavia offensive rebound, Austin found LeBron on a pick and roll as the Lakers carried a 28-21 lead into the second period.
The momentum of the first quarter for LA quickly dissipated as Houston got back-to-back threes from Dorian Finney-Smith and Jabari Smith cut it to a one-point game. After Smart and LeBron missed threes, Vando finished a fastbreak layup and LeBron knocked down a midrange jumper before another DFS three had it a 32-30 Lakers lead.
Houston capped off their 17-6 run with a deep 3-pointer from Reed Sheppard to take a one-point lead as LA’s offense went cold after Reaves returned to the bench. Out of a timeout, Sheppard converted a driving layup before LeBron got the Lakers back on the board with a pair of freebies.
The end of the second quarter saw the Lakers struggle massively once again. A lucky 3-pointer from Smart while trying to draw a foul and a deep three from Reaves helped LA avoid disaster. The Rockets used a three from Josh Okogie, a cutting dunk from Amen Thompson and a pair of fastbreak baskets off turnovers to go ahead 48-44, forcing an LA timeout with 1:22 left.
Out of the timeout, Rui turned the ball over, but atoned for it by saving the ball from going out of bounds on the other end before then knocking down a triple. Eason closed the half with a corner 3-pointer as the Rockets led 51-47 at the break.
Head coach JJ Redick made a change at the half, swapping out Luke Kennard for Austin. It made a difference early in the quarter as he drew fouls on consecutive possessions to help pull LA within two at 53-51, but the Lakers gave up open threes to Sheppard and Eason and found themselves down eight, the largest deficit of the night.
A lifeless start to the half for LA snowballed as the Rockets ramped up the intensity, opening up an 11-point lead after a Jabari 3-pointer. A string of empty possessions for LA featured either missed open threes or ill-advised shot attempts with the momentum squarely in favor of Houston.
After a quiet first half, LeBron finally came to life, getting to the rim to either draw a foul — including an important fourth foul on Eason — or finish, cutting the lead down to five.Holiday and Alperen Şengün eventually stopped the run, but each of their scores was answered by Ayton baskets.
Back-to-back turnovers from Smart sandwiched an Aaron Holiday three, making it a 72-64 Houston lead with 2:38 left in the third. To this point, LeBron and Reaves had scored or assisted on 53 of the team’s points.
Şengün converted a pair of freebies out of the break to make it a double-digit lead again. After missing a pull-up jumper, Kennard’s first point of the game came at the free throw line, where he split a pair. On the other end, Okogie threw home a dunk on a baseline cut and LeBron smoked a layup on the other end.
LaRavia closed the period with a layup, but the Rockets took control of the game in the quarter and went into the fourth up 76-67.
After Reaves free throws to open the final frame, Thompson and Jabari knocked down threes amidst multiple empty Lakers possessions to make it a 13-point game again and force an early timeout.
The break did nothing to change the tide for LA, who could not find any offensive rhythm. Despite Houston going four minutes between field goals, the Lakers couldn’t cut into the deficit as a Şengün fadeaway jumper kept it a 13-point game.
LA tried to find signs of life after a layup from LeBron made it a nine-point game and forced a Rockets timeout. The run continued after the break as Ayton blocked Şengün on a drive and Rui buried a three on the other end.
After Eason split free throws, Ayton put back a missed Reaves runner to trim it to five points. After Thompson missed a turnaround jumper, LeBron’s lefty lay-in cut it to three. Sheppard finally stopped the bleeding for Houston with a pull-up jumper before stripping LeBron and finishing the layup to quickly restore the lead to seven with 2:20 left.
LeBron banked in a layup out of the timeout to cut it to five again. On the ensuing Rockets possession, Eason was initially called for his sixth fall on a charge, but Houston’s challenge was successful and the call was overturned, leading to two free throws.
Reaves’ 3-pointer missed and Houston was fouled on the rebound with 1:32 left. Şengün made both, extending it to 10 points and effectively sealing the win.
LA had one last spurt that saw them cut it to three with 24 seconds left after a putback dunk from Ayton, but it was too little, too late.
Key Player Stats
Reaves was good in his return all things considered, scoring 22 points with six assists and four rebounds in 34 minutes. LeBron had a quiet first half before turning it on in the second, finishing with 25 points and seven rebounds.
Deandre Ayton had one of his best games as a Laker, finishing with a double-double of 18 points and 17 rebounds. Marcus Smart started the game well before struggling for much of the game, finishing with 11 points and six rebounds while turning it over six times and shooting just 3-7 from the field.
Kennard was kept completely quiet, finishing with one point on 0-4 shooting. Rui had 12 points on 5-11 shooting.
The Lakers will next be in action on Friday in Houston for Game 6. Tip-off is slated for 9:30 p.m.
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