In the entire history of the NBA playoffs, out of more than 250 best-of-seven series with a 3-1 margin, the trailing team has won 12 times.
Those are the daunting odds that Houston now faces after a demoralizing 110-100 loss (box score) in Thursday’s Game 4 against the Los Angeles Lakers. The lifeless Rockets were outrebounded by a staggering 52-26 margin, and they trailed by as many as 23 points before a late run made the final score appear much closer than the game actually felt.
As a result, the Rockets now face the imminent prospect of being eliminated in the second round, starting with Saturday night’s Game 5.
“There should have been a sense of urgency on everybody’s part,” said All-Star guard Russell Westbrook, who scored a team-high 25 points.”I don’t have an explanation.”
“Just a lack of spirit,” head coach Mike D’Antoni said of Houston’s lethargic showing for three quarters. “Just seems like we got down and lost our way a little bit. … We let go of the rope a little bit.”
The Lakers defeat the Rockets 110-100 to go up 3-1 in the Western Conference Semis.
The Lakers are the first team with twice as many rebounds and twice as many points in the paint as their opponent in a playoff game in the play-by-play era (since 1997). pic.twitter.com/l8psxmtEfE
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 11, 2020
All-Star guard James Harden had his least efficient game of the 2020 playoffs, scoring 21 points on 2-of-11 shooting (18.2%). He did have 10 assists, but also a game-high five turnovers. Westbrook was more efficient as a shooter at 8-of-16 (50.0%), but four of his eight makes came in the fourth quarter, after the game had been decided. Frontcourt starters P.J. Tucker and Robert Covington combined for just six rebounds.
When asked why the Rockets were so lifeless in the first three quarters during a game they badly needed to win, Harden said:
That’s a good question.
All-Star big man Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 29 points and 12 rebounds, while LeBron James added 16 points, 15 rebounds, and nine assists. Alex Caruso scored 16 points off the bench, including the dagger 3-pointer in the game’s final minute to seal the victory.
FINAL: Lakers 110, Rockets 100. Rockets have been dominated for 5-6 quarters. Late run is a sliver of hope but Rockets have been beaten at their own game. They looked defeated from the jump and now trail 3-1.
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) September 11, 2020
If there was any silver lining for the Rockets, it came in the form of strong bench showings from Austin Rivers (14 points, five assists) and Ben McLemore, who made all three of his 3-pointers. Their combined 23 points was by far the most of any game in the series, and Rivers played a key role in Houston’s four-guard lineup late in the game — when the Rockets crawled back from a 23-point deficit to as close as five.
“I’m just really happy to see Austin and Ben come in and give us a boost,” D’Antoni said. “We’ve just got to find that from the get-go. I think we will. I really do. I understand it’s 3-1. So what? Denver was 3-1 [in the first round, before rallying to advance]. We’ve got to win the next game. So it’s a one-game series, and then we’ll see what happens.”
Game 5 between the Rockets and Lakers tips off at 7:00 p.m. Central on Saturday night, with a national TV broadcast on ESPN. It is unclear if Houston will have the services of sixth man Danuel House Jr., who was again out in Game 4 due to an ongoing NBA protocol investigation.
“We fought, which is good,” Westbrook said postgame. “We know what we have to do. It’s going to take a lot of effort. It’s going to take everyone being uncomfortable in their role and making sure that we understand that we all have to sacrifice some of the things we may love to do. But we’ve gotta scramble. That gives us the best chance to win games.”
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