April 24, 2026, 9:10 p.m. PT
Weren’t the Houston Rockets supposed to dominate the Los Angeles Lakers in their first-round NBA playoff series, given that the Lakers have been without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves? Weren’t the Rockets the more athletic and physically gifted team? Weren’t the Lakers supposed to lack offense as short-handed as they are?
Surely, the Rockets were supposed to win Game 3 on Friday in Houston after losing the first two games. But they got another bad break when Kevin Durant was ruled out prior to the opening tip. Unlike in Game 1, when a knee contusion kept him out, this time, it was a sprained ankle that prevented him from playing. Reaves was listed as questionable for Friday’s game, but it was determined prior to the start that he wasn’t ready to return from his oblique strain.
The Lakers went on an 11-0 run in the first quarter, allowing them to end the period ahead 39-32. They had 14 assists in the first quarter, as they continued to burn the nets from 3-point range, just as they did in the first two games. But after the Lakers went up by as many as 15 points, Houston fought hard in the second half and took a 92-91 lead with 4:59 left in the fourth quarter, and a flurry of L.A. turnovers allowed Houston to go up 101-95 with 40.6 seconds left.
It looked at that point as if the Rockets were finally going to get on the board in this series. But the Lakers’ superior experience and resourcefulness resulted in an ending that shocked the fans at the Toyota Center.
First, Jabari Smith Jr. committed a turnover in the backcourt, and as Marcus Smart went up for a desperation 3-point attempt, Jae’Sean Tate fouled Smart with 25.4 seconds left. Smart made all three free throws to cut L.A.’s deficit in half. Then Rockets guard Reed Sheppard lost the ball as he attempted to bring it upcourt. It went to LeBron James, who pump-faked, then swished a 3-pointer to tie the game and send it to overtime.
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In the extra period, the Lakers controlled things just enough to earn a 112-108 win and take a 3-0 series lead. While this series is far from over, this has to be a demoralizing loss for a young Rockets squad that was supposed to wipe the floor with Los Angeles.
Los Angeles won yet again even though it was outrebounded by four and gave up 18 offensive rebounds, committed 21 turnovers and attempted 19 fewer field goals. It again shot well from downtown by going 12-of-29 from that distance, while the Rockets shot just 28.2% from beyond the arc. For a change, L.A. got 24 points from its bench, while the Rockets’ reserves scored just three points.
It looks like everyone grossly underestimated the Purple and Gold coming into this series. Now, the Rockets are on life support, and their fans are frantically calling their psychotherapists for emergency sessions.
Deandre Ayton: C-plus
Ayton went scoreless in the first half and didn’t score his first points until around the eight-minute mark of the third quarter. But he contributed six rebounds in 33 minutes while also chipping in two assists, one steal and one block. He allowed Alperen Sengun to score 33 points and grab 16 rebounds, but he did often play physical defense on Sengun deep in the paint.
He again wasn’t on the floor down the stretch of the fourth quarter. But Ayton played almost all of the overtime session, and he helped out enough during that time to make this victory possible.
Rui Hachimura: A-minus
Hachimura carried a heavy load early thanks to some scorching shooting. He had 16 points in the first quarter, and he made each of his first six shot attempts. While he cooled off afterward, he did score four points in overtime to help secure this win.
He finished with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 from 3-point range, and he also had four rebounds, two assists and one steal in 44 minutes.
Luke Kennard: B
Kennard again sparked the Lakers early with eight points and four assists in the first quarter. This wasn’t a good shooting game for him — he was 4-of-12 overall and 1-of-6 from downtown — but he scored 14 points, and he also finished with six rebounds and six assists.
Marcus Smart: A
Not enough can be said about Smart and the impact he has had on the Lakers. Few people expected him to be this pivotal to the team’s success when it signed him this past summer, coming off two dismal, injury-riddled seasons.
He made five of his nine field-goal attempts and two of his four 3-point tries, and he also drew fouls and converted nine of his 11 free throw attempts to score 21 points. He scored seven of those points in the fourth quarter and eight more in overtime, and he also dished off a game-high 10 assists while adding four rebounds.
But Smart’s greatest contribution in Game 3 was probably on the defensive end, where he had five steals and two blocks. His biggest steal came on that Smith turnover with less than a minute left, which led to him getting fouled on that 3-point attempt and making all three ensuing free throws.
The veteran guard also scored the first points of overtime on a 3-pointer, and when LeBron James missed a trey with just under a minute left in the extra period, Smart crashed the offensive boards, got the rebound and was fouled on his put-back attempt. He made both resulting free throws for a four-point lead. He then made three more foul shots shortly afterward to put the finishing touches on this win.
LeBron James: B-plus/A-minus
James again had the type of game everyone has come to expect from him over the years. He went 10-of-22 overall, 4-of-9 from downtown and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe to score 29 points while also grabbing 13 rebounds, dealing out six assists and adding three steals and one block.
Unfortunately, he had four of his eight turnovers in the fourth quarter, which almost cost the Lakers the game. Two of those turnovers came in the final minute of the period and directly led to baskets for Houston. Of course, he made up for that with the 3-pointer that ended up forcing overtime, and when Sheppard coughed up the ball right before that shot, it was James who knocked the ball away to force that turnover.
Overall, the 41-year-old was more helpful than he was detrimental to his team. He scored 16 points in the first half and didn’t miss his first shot until he botched a layup with 4:31 left in the second quarter. He has done a masterful job of orchestrating L.A.’s offense, especially with Doncic and Reaves, the team’s top two offensive options, out due to injury.
Jaxson Hayes: A
Hayes gave the Lakers the type of bench production they have been craving. He played 20 minutes and scored 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, and he also got four rebounds, blocked two shots and added one steal. He had a big put-back dunk with 2:47 to go in the fourth quarter to bring L.A. to within two points, and seconds later, he had an even bigger block on Amen Thompson. With 1:16 left in the period, he rejected Sheppard at the rim.
Jarred Vanderbilt: B-plus
Vanderbilt made a solid contribution in this game with six rebounds, five points and one assist in 15 minutes. He was 2-of-5 from the field and missed both of his 3-point tries.
Jake LaRavia: D-plus
LaRavia shook off a twisted ankle to play 15 minutes on Friday. He made one of his four shot attempts and finished with two points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Bronny James: B
The younger James got onto the court for nine minutes and actually helped the Lakers’ cause. He finished with five points, and those five points came quickly in the second quarter on a 3-pointer and a fast-break layup off an alley-oop pass from his father.