The Los Angeles Lakers have taken a commanding 3-0 lead over the Houston Rockets with a 112-108 overtime win in Game 3 at Toyota Center on Friday. The Rockets looked set to win when they led 101-95 with 30 seconds remaining in regulation, but spectacularly blew the game, and head coach Ime Udoka went off on his team in his postgame press conference.
“Horrendous mistakes,” Udoka said, via the NBA. “I don’t know if you want to say youth or scared of the moment or whatever the case. You have a six-point lead with 20 or 30 seconds to go, get a rebound, and just have to hold the ball and get fouled… throw it away. To make it worse, a terrible foul on Marcus Smart to give him three free throws.
“Next play, backcourt, you got it,” Udoka continued. “Doubles coming, you try to split it instead of throwing it to [Alperen Sengun] wide open. Another turnover. And then [LeBron] James makes a tough shot. Then, the final play, for the last shot, we don’t run what was drawn up. All the above.”
Udoka can be too harsh on his players at times, but he has every right to be upset now. It should not have been possible for the Rockets to lose this one. They made one bad mistake after another.
The first one came from Jabari Smith Jr. Smith had the ball with the Rockets up six with 30 seconds remaining, and all he had to do was dribble it up the court. Instead, he attempted a very risky lobbed pass to Amen Thompson when he was under no pressure whatsoever, and Marcus Smart managed to steal it.
The Rockets were still in a good position at that point, but Jae’Sean Tate then fouled Smart as he attempted a three-pointer. You could see Udoka fuming on the sidelines, and things were about to get worse.
Smart made all three free throws to cut that Rockets lead down to 101-98 with 25.4 seconds remaining. Then, out of a timeout, LeBron James poked the ball out of Reed Sheppard’s hands to force another turnover. The ball would eventually find its way back to James, who drilled a three-pointer to tie the game.
“Alpi’s wide-open across halfcourt,” Udoka said. “[Sheppard] got James on his hip, not even on his hip, and then [Rui] Hachimura’s coming to double. He tried to split it instead of just throwing it to Apli halfcourt.”
That was a poor decision on Sheppard’s part. Despite all of this, the Rockets still had a chance to win the game in regulation, as they had the ball with 13.1 seconds remaining. Alperen Sengun, who had a team-high 33 points, did get the ball this time around, but his potential game-winner hit the side of the backboard.
It now turns out that wasn’t even the play that Udoka and his staff had designed. He revealed it was supposed to be an elbow isolation for Sengun.
James then missed a three-pointer at the buzzer, which sent this game to overtime. It seems like there was only going to be one winner in this game at that point, though, and that proved to be the case.
The Rockets are now on the cusp of one of the most embarrassing series defeats in NBA history. Sure, they haven’t had Kevin Durant for two of these three games, but the Lakers have been without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
If any team were to win the first three games, it should have been the Rockets. Instead, they now have to try to do what no team has ever done: overturn a 3-0 deficit. Udoka was asked what his message was to his team in this dire situation, and it was a simple yet stern one.
“Grow up, you’re not that young anymore,” Udoka said.
Udoka isn’t interested in using youth as an excuse, and it shouldn’t be. It will be interesting to see how the players react to this loss. Game 4 tips off at Toyota Center on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. ET.
