LeBron James added another line to the record book Wednesday night, getting his first steal of Game 5 against the Houston Rockets to reach 500 career postseason steals. Dave McMenamin reported on X that James moved into first place all-time in playoff steals, ahead of Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan.
James played in his 297th career playoff game at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, where the Lakers were trying to steady a series that had already turned after they took a 3-0 lead. Houston led 51-47 at halftime, and the Lakers still had work to do after dropping Game 4 in Houston on Sunday.
The number itself is the kind of mark James has spent years collecting. He already leads the playoffs in wins, minutes played and total points, and he entered Game 5 with a chance to move one step closer to his 42nd playoff series win if the Lakers closed out the Rockets in Games 5, 6 or 7. A victory would also keep him on a track that has defined his career: 10 trips to the NBA Finals and four championship rings, won with Miami, Cleveland and Los Angeles.
The timing mattered because James did it with a roster still adjusting around him. Austin Reaves returned Wednesday night 27 days after straining his oblique in Oklahoma City, while Luka Doncic remained out with the hamstring strain he suffered in a game in Oklahoma City on April 2. James, the league’s oldest player, has been carrying a different kind of load all spring, one built less on one highlight than on the accumulation of them.
That is the tension in this Lakers Vs Houston Rockets timeline: the numbers keep rising even as the margin for error narrows. The Lakers had a 3-0 series lead before the slip in Houston, and now every stop, every possession and every James steal carries more weight than the last.
