{"id":717500,"date":"2026-04-25T05:00:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T05:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/717500\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T05:00:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T05:00:54","slug":"james-makes-tying-3-as-lakers-storm-back-late-win-in-ot-and-take-a-3-0-series-lead-over-the-rockets-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/717500\/","title":{"rendered":"James makes tying 3 as Lakers storm back late, win in OT and take a 3-0 series lead over the Rockets"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOUSTON — LeBron James scored 29 points, including a tying 3-pointer with 13 seconds left in regulation, Marcus Smart had eight points in overtime and the Los Angeles Lakers took advantage of a Houston Rockets team missing Kevin Durant for a 112-108 win Friday night to take a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference first-round series.<\/p>\n

The Lakers rallied from a six-point deficit with under 30 seconds remaining and can sweep the series Sunday night in Houston.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles opened overtime with a 6-2 run, highlighted by a 3-pointer from Smart to take a 107-103 lead. Alperen Sengun made a basket for Houston before Smart made two free throws to push the lead to 109-105 with 52 seconds left.<\/p>\n

Smart made two free throws with 35.5 seconds to go to make it 111-105. Reed Sheppard made a 3-pointer to get Houston within three with less than 30 seconds left in overtime but Smart made 1 of 2 free throws to push the lead to 112-108.<\/p>\n

Smart added 21 points and 10 assists, and Rui Hachimura added 22 points for the Lakers.<\/p>\n

Even with Durant out for a second game in this series — this time with a sprained ankle after missing Game 1 with a knee injury — the Rockets were in position to close out the game after James had consecutive turnovers that Houston turned into a 101-95 lead.<\/p>\n

Sengun led the Rockets with 33 points and 16 rebounds. Amen Thompson added 26 points and 11 rebounds.<\/p>\n

The Lakers led by as many as 15 early, but were down six in the fourth before Smart was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 25.4 seconds to go after a Houston turnover and made all three free throws to get the Lakers within three.<\/p>\n

James, who had 13 rebounds, then stole the ball from Sheppard and his 3-pointer tied it at 101-all with 13.1 seconds to go in the fourth.<\/p>\n

The Rockets had a chance to take the lead after that, but Sengun’s 7-footer was off. James grabbed the rebound and called a timeout. He grabbed the inbounds pass and had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but his 3-point attempt bounced off the rim to send it to OT.<\/p>\n

\"Houston
\nHouston Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. (10) becomes entangled with Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) as he drives to the basket during the first half of Game 3 in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Friday April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Michael Wyke)<\/p>\n

\"Houston
\nHouston Rockets guard Amen Thompson (1) looks to drive around Los Angeles Lakers guard Marcus Smart (36) who reaches in during the first half of Game 3 in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Friday April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Michael Wyke)<\/p>\n

\"Los
\nLos Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura, right, looks to shoot while under pressure from Houston Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr., left, during the first half of Game 3 in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Friday April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Michael Wyke)<\/p>\n

\"Houston
\nHouston Rockets guard Amen Thompson (1) loses a rebound in front of Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura (28) during the first half in Game 3 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Friday April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Michael Wyke)<\/p>\n

\"Houston
\nHouston Rockets forward Dorian Finney-Smith (2) knocks away the ball from Los Angeles Lakers guard Marcus Smart, center, as forward Jake LaRavia (12) looks on during the first half in Game 3 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Friday April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo\/Michael Wyke)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON — LeBron James scored 29 points, including a tying 3-pointer with 13 seconds left in regulation, Marcus…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":717501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3790],"tags":[7,4034,1698,300,4044,251,150,4033,4043,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-717500","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-la","10":"tag-la-lakers","11":"tag-lakers","12":"tag-lalakers","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","15":"tag-losangeles","16":"tag-losangeleslakers","17":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116463592787499100","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717500","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=717500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}