Ime Udoka did not soften the blow after the Rockets wasted a late six-point lead and lost 112-108 in overtime to the Lakers on Saturday night at Toyota Center, falling into a 3-0 series hole in a game Houston had a 99.8% chance to win with 35 seconds left in regulation.
“Horrendous mistakes,” Udoka said after the loss, and the numbers made the collapse even harder to explain. Houston had a six-point edge with 30 seconds left, but Jabari Smith Jr. and Reed Sheppard committed careless turnovers in the final half minute, and Marcus Smart and LeBron James each came away with steals before the Lakers forced overtime and finished the job.
“I don’t know if you want to say youth, scared of the moment or whatever the case, but you have a six-point lead with 30 seconds to go,” Udoka said. “Just have to hold the ball and get fouled. To combat it, make it worse and [commit] a terrible foul, another turnover and James makes a tough shot. And then the final play for the last shot, we don’t run what was drawn up. All of the above.”
The Rockets still had reasons to believe they were dictating enough of the game to win. For the third straight contest, Houston attempted 19 more field goals than Los Angeles and grabbed 18 offensive rebounds to the Lakers’ nine, but it did not turn that edge into a finish. The problem has been the same one that has followed the Rockets through the series: half-court scoring that goes nowhere, and a 3-point stroke that has not been good enough. Houston shot 28.7% from beyond the arc and generated just 85.9 points per 100 half-court possessions.
That makes the loss more than a bad final minute. The Rockets were already carrying the burden of not having Kevin Durant, who missed Game 3 with an ankle sprain, and they still could not close a game they had almost entirely in hand. For a team that has been fighting for answers and drawing attention around Udoka in recent weeks — including a separate courtside flashpoint with LeBron James and scrutiny before Game 1 — the series is now tilting toward a sweep, with Houston needing a reversal that no box score has hinted at yet.