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Seldom used rookie Talen Horton-Tucker made his first career playoff appearance on Thursday night in Game 4 as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Houston Rockets to take a 3-1 series lead. Horton-Tucker logged only seven minutes but impressed LeBron James in the process.
With Markieff Morris battling some foul trouble, Horton-Tucker checked into the game in the second quarter. He helped the Lakers build a 16-point lead heading into halftime after scoring five points, two rebounds and two steals while finishing a plus-nine on the court.
Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said the performance gave the team a big lift in the first half while James backed up that statement and credited Horton-Tucker for his play.
We got rook in the game today and he was huge in his first stint in the postseason. … I thought rook was really good tonight coming out and giving us some huge minutes when ‘Kieff got into a little foul trouble. He came in and gave us great minutes.
Horton-Tucker only made two appearances with the Lakers prior to the season suspension but played in four seeding games at the Walt Disney World Resort. He scored in double figures in three of those outings and even, at one point, made a case to be included in the rotation.
His teammates and coaches trusted him to play meaningful minutes on Thursday and that is a direct result of the hard work he has put in. Anthony Davis said after the game that Horton-Tucker is constantly asking questions trying to get better and that showed in Game 4.
Game 5 is scheduled to tip-off Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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