HOUSTON — In an all-too-familiar theme, the Rockets’ struggles to generate offense in crunch-time situations were on full display during Monday’s 100-92 home loss (box score) to the Lakers.

“We’ve got to handle the blitz and the hits better,” Rockets head coach Ime Udoka said postgame. “We’ve been seeing it all year, and it’s something we have to get better at. First, making the pass, taking care of the ball. And then people making plays behind it when they double and put bodies on Kevin (Durant).”

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After leading by double digits in the third quarter, Houston scored a season-low 12 points in the fourth, with only four in the final six-plus minutes. The Rockets committed a whopping 24 turnovers, including a game-high seven from Durant — who seemed unable to counter a wave of traps and double teams late in the game.

“I just feel like I lost the game for us tonight,” said Durant, who shot just 1-of-5 in the second half (20.0% FG) while turning the ball over six times. “It’s that simple. Of course, we probably could have made more 3s. But it’s all on me, to be honest. I’m the offense, and the opposing team is going to use all their resources to not let me get comfortable.”

“The turnovers are careless ones,” Udoka added. “Just sloppy passes or guys not meeting the ball. Did a really good job in the first half with only six turnovers, and then to give up 17 in the second half for 14 or 15 points. Obviously, that was the game right there.”

Houston shot just 5-of-26 on 3-pointers (19.2%) for the game, including a combined 1-of-9 showing (11.1%) from Reed Sheppard and Tari Eason.

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Individual standouts for both teams included:

Jabari Smith Jr.: 22 points, 8 rebounds; 9-of-17 shooting (52.9%), 2-of-8 on 3-pointers (25.0%)

Amen Thompson: 19 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 turnovers; 8-of-13 shooting (61.5%)

Kevin Durant: 18 points, 5 rebounds, 7 turnovers; 8-of-16 shooting (50.0%), 0-of-3 on 3-pointers

Clint Capela: 9 points, 8 rebounds; 3-of-4 shooting (75.0%)

Dorian Finney-Smith: 8 points, 4 assists; 2-of-5 on 3-pointers (40.0%)

Luka Doncic (Lakers): 36 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 turnovers; 14-of-27 shooting (51.9%), 4-of-12 on 3-pointers (33.3%)

LeBron James (Lakers): 18 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds; 7-of-13 shooting (53.8%)

For the Rockets, All-Star center Alperen Sengun remained sidelined due to low back pain, so Capela started in his place. Sengun’s status for upcoming games is not yet clear.

With the win, Los Angeles (43-25) expanded its lead to 1.5 games over Houston (41-26) in the tightly packed Western Conference standings. The Lakers and Rockets are currently the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively.

Up next is Wednesday’s rematch, which will be the third and final game between the Rockets and Lakers this season. Since each team enters with one win apiece, it will also determine the head-to-head tiebreaker in two-team scenarios.

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Wednesday’s game, which also takes place inside Houston’s Toyota Center, tips off at 8:30 p.m. Central. It will be televised and streamed regionally on Space City Home Network and nationally via ESPN.

More: Rockets center Alperen Sengun remains sidelined with back pain

This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Kevin Durant takes blame as Lakers force yet another Houston collapse