Houston’s young core did a lot of growing up in Game 5 against the Lakers.
Playing with the confidence of a team that believes it should be ahead in the series instead of trailing, the Houston Rockets have turned a 3-0 series deficit against the Los Angeles Lakers into a 3-2 pressure-cooker.
The Rockets defeated the Lakers 99-93 Wednesday in Game 5 of their first-round Western Conference series and forced Game 6 at home.
Houston controlled much of the game with its defense and balanced offense, and unlike Game 3 when the Rockets squandered a late lead, they responded when the Lakers challenged in the fourth quarter.
The Rockets are trying to become the first team in 161 series to come back from a 3-0 deficit and win a series. Just four teams have forced Game 7 after falling behind 3-0.
Game 6 is Friday in Houston (9:30 p.m. ET, Prime Video).
1. Rockets’ starting five does the job
Houston’s starting five – all 24 years old or younger – each reached double figures in points led by Jabari Smith Jr.’s 22 points, seven rebounds and two blocks and Alperen Sengun’s 14 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and two steals.
Reed Sheppard, who had a costly turnover in Game 3, had 12 points, six assists and three steals. On consecutive possessions, he made a 15-foot jump shot, stole the ball from LeBron James and converted a dunk, turning an 88-85 Houston lead into a 92-85 advantage with 2:20 left.
Tari Eason contributed 18 points and five rebounds, and Amen Thompson had 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.
“Big-time performances by everybody across the board,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “You’re starting this really young lineup, and they are somewhat battle-tested now.”
Houston won the past two games without Kevin Durant who missed his fourth game of the series. He sat out Game 1 with a bruised right knee and was unavailable for Games 3-5 with a sprained and bruised left ankle.
2. Lakers missing 3-point success
The Lakers shot 46.1% on 3-pointers through the first three games of the series and have dropped to 24.5% from that range in the two losses, including 7-for-27 – 1-for-10 in the fourth quarter – in Game 5.
LeBron James, who had 25 points and seven assists, was 0-for-6 on 3s, Austin Reaves was 2-for-8 and Luke Kennard, the NBA’s leader in 3-point shooting percentage during the regular season, was 0-for-2. Kennard scored one point in Game 5 and seven in Game 4 after dropping 64 in the first three games.
The Lakers were held to fewer than 100 points for the second consecutive game, negating Deandre Ayton’s best game of the series. He scored 18 points and collected 17 rebounds – 10 on the offensive end.
“You hope 99 (points allowed) is enough to win, and we just couldn’t make shots,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “Missed some layups, certainly had some good looks from 3 that didn’t go down but we’ll take a look at the whole process and take a look at the substitution patterns and figure out where we can be better in Game 6.”
3. Reaves has ups and downs in return
Reaves returned to the lineup and made an immediate impact after missing the final five regular-season games and first four games of the Rockets series with a strained left oblique.
He provided scoring and an additional playmaker the Lakers needed with him and Luka Doncic (strained left hamstring) sidelined.
Reaves had an assist to Deandre Ayton less than a minute after checking into the game in the first quarter. He made his first shot, a 3-pointer, that was part of eight consecutive Lakers points by Reaves. He drew a charge, leading to a James basket and then delivered an assist to James giving the Lakers a 28-18 lead. He had eight points and four assists in his first nine minutes.
Reaves started the second half in place of Luke Kennard, finishing with 22 points on 4-for-16 shooting, six assists and four rebounds.
4. Udoka wins key challenge late in the fourth quarter
James cut Houston’s lead to 92-87 with 2:00 left in the fourth quarter.
On the next possession, Eason was called for an offensive foul. Udoka challenged the call, and after a review, the call was overturned and a foul assessed to Reaves, who was not in a legal guarding position according to the officials.
Eason made both free throws. Reaves missed a 3 and Sengun made two free throws for a 96-87 Houston lead at the 1:42 mark of the fourth.
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Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at jzillgitt@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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