without Kevin Durant (ankle)<\/a>, and the outcome didn\u2019t change. Another loss. Alperen \u015eeng\u00fcn led all scorers with 33 points to go along with 16 rebounds and six assists. The Rockets\u2019 perimeter shooting continues to be an issue at 28.2 percent, though Jabari Smith Jr. provided a spark, hitting 6 of 10 from deep for 24 points. Amen Thompson added a 26-point, 11-rebound double-double.<\/p>\nFor Los Angeles, James finished with 29 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, while Marcus Smart recorded a 21-point, 10-assist double-double. Rui Hachimura also contributed 21 points.<\/p>\n
Here are the key takeaways from Game 3 as the series heads toward a potential closeout in Houston.<\/p>\n
Father Time lost again<\/p>\n
James was exhausted, his jersey pulled over his head after a fourth-quarter turnover. His legs were heavy. He was the last Lakers player off the bench during timeouts as JJ Redick checked with him and trainer Mike Mancias to see if he could keep going. James nodded.<\/p>\n
He kept going. The Lakers didn\u2019t quit. And when the biggest shot of the night needed to be taken, James was waiting in the corner after a wild Houston Rockets turnover gave him one more chance. Swish.<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t hit the game-winner, but James forced overtime and opened the door for Marcus Smart to take over with eight extra-period points, pushing the Lakers to a 3-0 series lead. \u2014 Dan Woike, Lakers writer\u00a0<\/p>\n
A stunning heartbreaker<\/p>\n
This Rockets team is well-versed in late-game collapses, but they pulled off on Friday night may have ended their season.<\/p>\n
Houston led by six with fewer than 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter and somehow allowed the Lakers to force tie the game in regulation and eventually steal the win in overtime, giving Los Angeles a commanding 3-0 lead in what has become the most stunning first-round series of these playoffs.<\/p>\n
With Kevin Durant sidelined by a sprained left ankle, the Rockets didn\u2019t have their usual closer and looked rattled in the biggest moments of their most important game of the season. First, Jae\u2019Sean Tate fouled Marcus Smart on a 3-pointer with 25.4 seconds left. Then Reed Sheppard threw away the ensuing inbounds pass, leading directly to a game-tying 3 from LeBron James.<\/p>\n
In overtime, the Lakers did enough to finish it off and, for all practical purposes, put Houston on the brink. For a Rockets team that entered the series as a heavy favorite, they are now one loss from a stunning sweep. \u2014 Will Guillory, Rockets writer\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s talk clutch time<\/p>\n
You know\u2026 the window of a game you all are here for. The NBA defines clutch time as any game within five points during the final five minutes of regulation or overtime.<\/p>\n
In this Rockets-Lakers series, it was projected to be a major Lakers\u2019 advantage. No team posted a better clutch-time winning percentage this season than Los Angeles at 22-8 (73.3 percent). Houston, on the flip side, went 22-23. Only the Memphis Grizzlies, Brooklyn Nets, Indiana Pacers, Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans lost more clutch games \u2014 five teams already done before the Play-In Tournament.<\/p>\n
The Rockets have put themselves double-digit first-half holes in every game of this series. They\u2019ve also won the Middle Eight minutes of all three games, a sign they can close halves and make runs. They weren\u2019t close in Game 1 without Kevin Durant, then lost a clutch-time Game 2 after Durant went down.<\/p>\n
But Friday was the collapse that may define their season. Houston came all the way back from a 15-point first-half deficit and had the ball with a six-point lead and essentially one shot clock left. Then all the old problems returned. Marcus Smart stripped Jabari Smith Jr. and drew three free throws. Then LeBron James jumped a pass from Reed Sheppard and drilled the tying 3. Houston survived James\u2019 missed potential winner at the end of regulation after Alperen \u015eeng\u00fcn couldn\u2019t score on the other end, but overtime felt inevitable \u2014 and so did the unraveling.<\/p>\n
This is an advancement for the Lakers, who lost three clutch time games last year against the Timberwolves in the playoffs. For the Rockets, it is an invalidation of their young core and an indictment on a front office that neglected the point guard position that they can\u2019t finish these close games. At least they\u2019ll have an extended offseason to think about both. \u2014 Law Murray, NBA writer\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Lakers are one win away from a sweep after taking a 3-0 series lead with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":717446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3790],"tags":[7,194,4034,1698,300,4044,251,150,4033,4043,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-717445","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-lakers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-houston-rockets","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-la-lakers","12":"tag-lakers","13":"tag-lalakers","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","16":"tag-losangeles","17":"tag-losangeleslakers","18":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116463222395150175","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}