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LOS ANGELES — 159-0.
That’s the record of NBA teams who have gone up 3-0 in a playoff series. Only four teams have even forced a Game 7.
The Lakers raced out to a 3-0 series lead against a Houston Rockets team that has been without Kevin Durant for all but one game (not to mention missing other veterans Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams). History told us where this series was headed.
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Except, now it’s 3-2, the series is headed back to Houston, and the Lakers are in real trouble.
The Rockets have looked a little better with each game, they have found an identity and confidence. For the first 10 quarters of this series, the Lakers looked like the veteran team that had a little more juice left in them, a team that might make a run. They were the aggressors pressuring on defense while their role players like Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard were knocking down shots.
However, for the last 10 quarters, the Lakers have just looked old. If not for one moment of their brilliance/horrible Rockets self-inflicted wounds at the end of Game 3, the Lakers would be trailing in this series.
“We’re obviously the better team, I feel like,” Jabari Smith Jr. said, reflecting the growing confidence that is clear the second you step into the Houston locker room.
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Somewhere in the middle of Game 3, with Kevin Durant in the back getting treatment on his ankle, the young Rockets core started to coalesce.
“We’re just a tight-knit group of guys, especially the young guys, we really banded together,” Tari Eason said. “And I’m just proud of us… We just got to keep it rolling, one game at a time, back home, Game 6.”
Rockets find new identity
For three games, Houston looked overwhelmed — by the moment, by the pressure defense from Los Angeles, by everything. Ime Udoka caught some flak for saying his team needed to “grow up.”
However, maybe that’s what they needed to hear.
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The Rockets have come together and made a few adjustments. They cranked up their defensive pressure, forcing turnovers and getting points in transition. On offense, they started hunting Kennard. Also, the Rockets started getting Alperen Sengun the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/much-trouble-lebron-lakers-could-204513094.html
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Publish date : 2026-04-30 20:45:00
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