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HOUSTON, TX \u2013 APRIL 24: LeBron James #23; Luke Kennard #10 and Rui Hachimura #28 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on during the game against the Houston Rockets during…<\/p>\n
HOUSTON \u2014 Through the first three games of the NBA playoff series between the Rockets and the Lakers, someone new in purple and gold has had to walk into the fire of the postseason and refuse to blink.<\/p>\n
Without their top scorers in Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves<\/a>, the Lakers have needed a secondary scoring option behind LeBron James.<\/p>\n In Game 1, that was journeyman Luke Kennard, who scored 27 points <\/a>and was 5-for-5 from 3. In Game 2, Marcus Smart accepted that role<\/a> and stuffed the stat sheet with 25 points.<\/p>\n the Lakers\u2019 LeBron James (23), Luke Kennard and Rui Hachimura look on during the game against the Rockets. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n On Friday night in Houston, that someone was Rui Hachimura.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t just score 22 points, drain four 3-pointers and play 44 minutes, although that workload tells you everything you need to know about how much Lakers coach JJ Redick trusts him. With the Lakers in hostile territory in Houston, they knew they needed a fast start to silence the crowd.<\/p>\n Hachimura imposed himself early, torching the Rockets for 16 points in the first quarter on 6-for-6 shooting, the best scoring quarter of his career.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was the matchup. Reed Sheppard was guarding me,\u201d Hachimura said. \u201cIt was exactly what we worked on and practiced.\u201d<\/p>\n Hachimura\u2019s preparation coincided with the opportunity perfectly.<\/p>\n Houston adjusted, as it had to. The easy looks disappeared, and James (29 points) once again shouldered the scoring load for the Lakers.<\/p>\n Hachimura #28 of the Los Angeles Lakers passes the ball. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n But Hachimura didn\u2019t disappear. He waited.<\/p>\n In overtime, he delivered the sequence that helped define the night and seal the victory.<\/p>\n With the Lakers clinging to a 105-103 lead, James shot and missed a step-back 3 from the left wing. Hachimura caught the rebound in midair along the baseline, and as he fell out of bounds, he flung the ball back into play like a man refusing to let the possession die. Kennard came down with it, and moments later, the ball found its way back to Hachimura \u2014 who pump-faked a 3 and then drove and attacked the basket for a layup. The Lakers went up by four and never looked back.<\/p>\n Hachimura\u2019s performance was the kind that forces a front office to revisit every assumption it made last summer.<\/p>\n The 6-foot-8 forward from Japan is playing on an expiring three-year, $51 million deal that was supposed to be movable. Hachimura was expected to be replaced at the February trade deadline, like the Lakers did with Gabe Vincent.<\/p>\n Instead, they kept him.<\/p>\n And now? That decision is aging like something far more expensive than $17 million a year.<\/p>\n Because Hachimura and the rest of the Lakers\u2019 role players aren\u2019t playing like role players.<\/p>\n In Game 3, Smart became the first player since Michael Jordan in 1991 to finish with 21 points, 10 assists, five steals and two blocks in a postseason game. Talk about elite company.<\/p>\n Now the Lakers have a suffocating 3-0 lead and are one win from slamming the door.<\/p>\n Rui Hachimura shoots a 3-point basket against the host Rockets. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n Across from them is a Rockets team unraveling in real time. The heavy favorites to win the series now look like a team searching for answers that are never coming. For evidence, look no further than the mistakes they made with a six-point lead, the ball in their hands and 25 seconds left in the game.<\/p>\n \u201cHorrendous mistakes,\u201d Houston coach Ime Udoka said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if you want to say it\u2019s youth or scared of the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n The only question left now is which Lakers role player will step up in Game 4 on Sunday?<\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019s Deandre Ayton or Jaxson Hayes. Or maybe Reaves returns to fill the void.<\/p>\n The Lakers have many options when they look to close the series and continue to prove that this team doesn\u2019t need injured stars to save the season.<\/p>\n They create new ones every game.<\/p>\n Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters <\/p>\n California Post News: Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, X<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, WhatsApp<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a>![\"the](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/80a0ce4779503466f72bbca94ce24d43.jpeg\"\/)
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