So how did the Rockets blow Game 3 against the Lakers?

HOUSTON — Technically, the Lakers had not gotten across the finish line yet — 35 seconds and a five-point lead still flashed on the overtime clock hovering over Toyota Center  — but the teary-eyed look of defeat across every member in red as they trudged back on the floor told a painful, regretful tale. The white flag had already fallen out of their collective pocket.

In the blink of an eye, the Rockets had gone from hopeful to horrendous. The valiant efforts taken to eradicate a 15-point deficit and turn it into a six-point lead were now wiped from memory. A series of critical errors in a span of roughly half a minute — a pair of careless turnovers by Jabari Smith Jr. and Reed Sheppard, leading to a pair of subsequent steals by Marcus Smart and LeBron James — highlighted the spectrum of experience that has spanned across three games this series and what ultimately threatens Houston’s existence.

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The tunnel that connects both locker rooms depicted just as much; cheers and high-fives at one end, silence and shuffling of feet at the other. The Rockets, for large portions of Game 3, had no business being in that contest, yet failed to grasp the olive branch the Lakers dangled out on Friday evening; a reminder that life is all about second chances, just not in April.

“Horrendous mistakes,” head coach Ime Udoka said following Houston’s 112-108 overtime loss that pushed his team into a 3-0 hole after it had a 99.8% chance of winning with a six-point lead in the final 35 seconds of regulation, according to InPredictable. “I don’t know if you want to say youth, scared of the moment or whatever the case, but you have a six-point lead with 30 seconds to go. Just have to hold the ball and get fouled. To combat it, make it worse and [commit] a terrible foul, another turnover and James makes a tough shot. And then the final play for the last shot, we don’t run what was drawn up. All of the above.”

The bitter truth for the Rockets, as they stare at a deficit no team in NBA history has ever come back from, is that this game and series is a microcosm of the issues that have plagued them…

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Author : Kelly Iko

Publish date : 2026-04-25 05:13:00

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