{"id":717525,"date":"2026-04-25T05:42:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T05:42:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/717525\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T05:42:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T05:42:21","slug":"a-6-point-lead-30-seconds-left-and-a-rockets-unraveling-that-flipped-game-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/717525\/","title":{"rendered":"A 6-point lead, 30 seconds left, and a Rockets unraveling that flipped Game 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOUSTON \u2014 Leading by six with under 30 seconds to go, the Houston Rockets were on the verge of their first victory against the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n

Instead, they fell apart and eventually lost 112-108 in overtime on Friday night and are on the brink of elimination in their first-round Western Conference playoff series.<\/p>\n

\u201cHorrendous mistakes,\u201d coach Ime Udoka said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if you want to say youth or scared of the moment, or whatever the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with Kevin Durant out for a second game in this series \u2014 this time with a sprained ankle after missing Game 1 with a knee injury \u2014 the Rockets were in position to close out the game after LeBron James had consecutive turnovers that Houston turned into a 101-95 lead.<\/p>\n

It was then that everything went wrong for the Rockets. Marcus Smart was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 25 seconds to go in the fourth after a Houston turnover and made all three free throws to get the Lakers within three.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cIt was a stupid turnover,\u201d Sheppard said. \u201c(Alperen Sengun\u2019s) man came up. I should have hit Alpie right over halfcourt and just made the simple play. I tried to split the two defenders.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) tips the ball inbounds in front of Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun, left, during the second half of Game 3 in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Friday April 24, 2026, in Houston. Credit: AP\/Michael Wyke<\/p>\n

The Rockets had a chance to take the lead after that, but Sengun\u2019s 7-footer was off. James grabbed the rebound and called a timeout. He caught 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 struggled at times to close out games in the fourth quarter during the season and the problem continued Friday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obviously a weakness of ours to close out and finish,\u201d Udoka said. \u201cThe amount of mistakes or the type of mistakes are egregious and you can\u2019t have those.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the second straight playoff trip for the Rockets after they returned last season for the first time since 2020. They were eliminated in the first round in seven games by Golden State.<\/p>\n

\"Los<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Lakers guard Luke Kennard, left, fouls Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun, right, as he drives to the basket during the second half of Game 3 in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Friday April 24, 2026, in Houston. Credit: AP\/Michael Wyke<\/p>\n

With that playoff experience under their belts, Udoka doesn\u2019t see any excuse for their collapse Friday night and had a message for his team going forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrow up,\u201d he said he told them. \u201cYou\u2019re not that young anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sengun, who led the Rockets with 33 points and 16 rebounds Friday night, said they must find a way to move on as they prepare for Game 4 on Sunday night in Houston.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be upset tonight. That\u2019s for sure,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve got to get over it. Nobody\u2019s giving up.\u201d<\/p>\n

It’s unclear if Durant will return Sunday to help them stave off elimination.<\/p>\n

\u201cUp in the air,\u201d Udoka said. \u201cI think we made some progress in the last few days, but we\u2019ll see how that (goes) with only one day in between.\u201d<\/p>\n

Udoka made the Rockets watch the last 30 seconds of regulation immediately after the game to try and help his players learn from their mistakes. Then he told them to start looking forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow you’ve got to go get one on Sunday and don\u2019t let this one beat you twice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2014 Leading by six with under 30 seconds to go, the Houston Rockets were on the verge…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":717526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3790],"tags":[7,194,4034,1698,300,4044,251,150,4033,4043,6,2148],"class_list":{"0":"post-717525","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","19":"tag-wires-bot"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116463753313287053","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717525","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=717525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}