LeBron James tried to will the Lakers to close out the first-round series against the Rockets tonight, but seemingly fell short as Houston’s desperation fueled their comeback from an early 11-point hole in the game.
Midway through the fourth quarter, when the Lakers were down by 12 points, LeBron James drew a foul that sent him to the line after the Rockets were in the bonus. Alperen Sengun seemed to complain to the officials and called it a ‘soft a–‘ foul that did not sit well with the Lakers veteran.
“Nah, not you. Anybody else on your roster but you?” James apparently said to Sengun as he went to the free-throw line. “You don’t say that, you don’t say that. You’re the only person out here who can’t say that. Soft a– tall guy,” James seemingly added.
LeBron just called Sengun a “soft ass tall guy” pic.twitter.com/ZHopfYXb8g
— Italo Santana (@BulletClubIta) April 30, 2026
Alperen Sengun clearly poked the bear as the Lakers immediately went on an 11-1 run to cut the lead to three points before back-to-back clutch buckets from Reed Sheppard settled the nerves of the Rockets’ team.
The game eventually ended 99-93 as LeBron James’ late-game efforts fell short, and the Rockets forced a Game 6 as they surged ahead while trying to climb a steep hill of coming back from down 0-3 in the series.
The Lakers’ veteran led all scorers and finished the game with 25 points, seven assists, three rebounds, and two steals while going 9-20 from the field (45.0 FG%) and missing all six of his shots from beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, Alperen Sengun ended the game with 14 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists while shooting 5-9 from the field (55.6 FG%).
The Rockets are now headed home with a chance to tie the series and potentially do what only four teams have successfully done before, which is force a Game 7 after being down 0-3.
It is still one game at a time for the Rockets from here, and it is too early to jump the gun on talking about their chances to win this series when no team has ever done that before in the NBA in 160 such situations.
One key takeaway for the Rockets is not to poke the bear and celebrate too early when they are seeking to complete a nearly impossible comeback. Even if they had a double-digit lead midway through the fourth quarter, it is not the wisest decision to count your chickens before your eggs hatch, which in this case are not too many anyway.
The Lakers will now be on the road for Game 6 on Friday, May 1, at Houston’s Toyota Center.
