The Los Angeles Lakers looked all set to taste defeat for the first time in these playoffs in Game 3 against the Houston Rockets, but came away with a stunning 112-108 overtime win instead. The Lakers trailed 101-95 with about 30 seconds of regulation, and Marcus Smart and LeBron James made huge game-saving plays to ensure they handed the Rockets yet another loss.
Smart started off the comeback by stealing Jabari Smith Jr’s risky pass, and he spoke about that epic sequence in his postgame press conference.
“My instincts,” Smart said, via the NBA. “We knew that they were going to try to ice the game, and we needed to make a play, and just using my instincts. Jabari Smith, I think it was him who made the pass, and I just kind of stunted to see what he does. He picked his dribble up, and now he’s in no man’s land, and he threw a loft pass for me to recover, and I got it.
“And as I looked up the clock, I seen [Jae’Sean] Tate running really fast,” Smart continued. “And I’m like, ‘Okay, he probably not going to be able to stop in time.’ So I just pulled up right away, and he ran right under me. Exactly what happened. So it was a smart play, and that’s part of being a vet and my vet savvy, been in the league for 12 years. I picked up some tricks from some guys. So that helped us a lot.”
After stealing Smith’s pass, Smart drew a foul from Jae’Sean Tate while attempting a three-pointer. The 32-year-old made all three of his free throws to cut the deficit to 101-98.
That set the stage for some James magic. The 41-year-old had been quite careless with the ball for much of this game and had missed some shots down the stretch as well, but made two huge plays in the final seconds of regulation.
James first knocked the ball out of Reed Sheppard’s hands as he attempted to split the double team. The 22-time All-Star would eventually get the ball back, and he made a clutch three-pointer to tie the game.
“I mean, the game is never over ’til there’s zeroes on the clock, obviously,” James said. “And Marcus was able to get that steal, Jae’Sean fouled him for the three, he made all three, they call timeout. And we went in with a game plan to not foul right away. Try to make a play on the ball. See if we can create a turnover, extend the game a little bit, and I was able to get a back tap on Reed.
“We kicked it up, fumbled the ball a little bit,” James added. “I tried to hit Luke [Kennard] for a three, but I kind of fumbled a little bit, and they rotated to him. He threw it back to me, and I was able to tie it.”
James later had a chance to win the game in regulation. After Alperen Sengun missed a potential game-winner, the Lakers got the ball with 1.2 seconds remaining. With so little time on the clock, James attempted a difficult turnaround three-pointer over Sengun and missed.
While that was disappointing, you felt like the damage had been done already. It was going to be very difficult for the Rockets to put what had just happened behind them and win this game in overtime. While they didn’t melt in the extra period, they still came out second-best.
Smart shone in overtime with eight points, and finished the night with 21 points (5-9 FG), four rebounds, 10 assists, five steals, and two blocks. He made a lot of outstanding hustle plays, and signing him was proven to be a masterstroke.
As for James, he had 29 points (10-22 FG), 13 rebounds, six assists, three steals, and one block. All eyes were on James in Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves‘ absence, and he sure has delivered.
The Lakers are now 3-0 and will look to complete the sweep in Game 4, which tips off at Toyota Center on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. ET.
