LOS ANGELES — Austin Reaves slammed the ball up and down in the key, waiting for the whistle before his return from an almost month-long absence became official during the first quarter on Wednesday night.
The Crypto.com Arena crowd welcomed Reaves, who had been out with a left oblique strain since April 2, with a roaring ovation when he was announced as entering the game.
But as the night drifted on, the Lakers turned back to their tendencies from Game 4 on Sunday: turnovers, and a lack of offensive production stunting their route to victory. Reaves couldn’t help them avoid a repeat defeat in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets.
The fourth-seeded Lakers used an 11-1 run to cut a 13-point margin to three in the final minutes, but they couldn’t get any closer in a 99-93 loss in their second straight chance to oust the fifth-seeded Rockets and just their second loss in 16 home games since February. Game 6 is Friday night in Houston, with a Game 7, if necessary, back in L.A. on Sunday.
No team has ever recovered from an 0-3 deficit to win an NBA playoff series. Only four of the 159 teams to start a series down 0-3 have ever even forced a Game 7.
LeBron James scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half and finished with seven assists, fueling the late surge as they tried to crawl back into the game. The four-time league MVP – who shot 9 for 20 from the field (0 for 6 from 3-point range) – fought his way to the free-throw line for a pair to cut the Rockets’ lead to 11 before grabbing the ball after a Josh Okogie 3-point miss and turning on the jets for a fast-break layup to get the Lakers within single digits. Deandre Ayton and James then made back-to-back layups after Rockets forward Tari Eason split a pair of free throws trim the margin to 88-85 with 2:59 remaining.
But then the turnover bug struck the Lakers once more; a fatal shot. After Reed Sheppard sank a mid-range jumper over Ayton, the Rockets guard ripped the ball away from James – just James’ second turnover of the game – for a dunk at the other end to extend the Houston lead back to seven points with 2:20 left.
A pair of free throws from Reaves and a putback dunk from Ayton after James and Reaves missed 3-point shots got the Lakers within three points once more, but Rockets guard Amen Thompson iced the game with free throws and James missed another 3-point look at the other end to remove any hope for a last-gasp victory.
Reaves scored more than half of his 22 points at the free-throw line (12) on a 4-for-16 shooting night from the field, and added six assists in 34 minutes off the bench. Ayton was efficient again, picking up a second consecutive double-double (18 points, 17 rebounds), but Luke Kennard, who scored 50 points in the first two games of the series to jumpstart what was once a 3-0 series lead, scored just one point on 0-for-4 shooting.
The Lakers led by as much as 11 in the first half, but the Rockets scored nine points off of five Laker turnovers in the second quarter and outscored the hosts by 11 points in the period.
Thompson played nearly every minute for the Rockets, and the defensive-minded guard, a 21.6% 3-point shooter during the regular season, made two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter for a 10-point lead with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr., who has handled the brunt of the scoring task with leading scorer Kevin Durant (ankle bone bruise) sidelined for four of the first five games in the series, followed Thompson with a 3-pointer of his own for an 82-69 lead, their largest of the night.
Smith finished with a team-high 22 points, while Thompson added 15. And while the Lakers were able to limit Rockets center Alperen Sengun for much of the night, the two-time All-Star offset his 14 points with nine rebounds and eight assists. Houston forward Tari Eason added 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
The Rockets shot particularly poorly while losing the series’ first two games in L.A., but they’ve rediscovered their collective touch while running a balanced offense in Durant’s absence. Houston has played with the confidence exemplified by Smith, who on Tuesday said the Rockets were “obviously the better team” despite what was then a 3-1 series deficit.
Lakers guard Marcus Smart and Reaves each scored 11 points in the first half, but the Rockets held Smart scoreless in the second half. The Lakers shot 7 for 27 from 3-point range, while the Rockets outscored them by 21 points from the perimeter on 14-for-40 shooting from deep.
More to come on this story.