Coming into Game 5 between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, it looked like the Lakers were in position to win and close out this first-round playoff series. They returned home after losing Game 4, 115-96, and they got star guard Austin Reaves back from an oblique strain that had sidelined him for nearly four weeks.
They especially looked primed to put this series away quickly when they went up by 11 points late in the first quarter thanks to the boost that Reaves’ return gave them. But Houston tightened things up fairly quickly in the second quarter and took a 51-47 halftime lead, and it continued to flex in the third quarter, which resulted in the Lakers being down 76-67 heading into the final frame.
Houston led 87-74 about midway through the fourth quarter when the Lakers went on an 11-1 run to come to within three points, and it looked like they were about to stage a tremendous late comeback. But they couldn’t make enough plays afterward, while the Rockets showed plenty of composure and calm, especially given that they were without Kevin Durant for a third straight contest due to an ankle sprain.
The Lakers fell, 99-93, and in many ways, they were their own worst enemy. While they outrebounded Houston by seven, they committed 15 turnovers and gave up 18 points off turnovers, while they shot just 42.1% from the field and 25.9% from 3-point range. Their scoring balance was uneven, and while they made 22 of their 27 free throw attempts, they missed critical foul shots when they were trying to mount a comeback.
Houston, meanwhile, shot 35% from beyond the arc, but they riddled the Lakers in the first three quarters with lots timely outside shooting, and it took advantage of poor and late rotations by L.A. Jabari Smith Jr. led the victors with 22 points, and All-Star center Alperen Sengun was one rebound and two assists shy of a triple-double.
Now things will only get harder for the Lakers. Game 6 will be in Houston on Friday, and while Kevin Durant may miss that matchup, the Rockets now feel confident and may even believe that they will become the first NBA team to win a playoff series after trailing 3-0.
Luke Kennard: D-minus
This was the kind of game where the Lakers needed Kennard to give them a boost offensively. Instead, it almost seemed like he was a ghost. In 31 minutes, he attempted just four shots and missed all of them, and he finished with one point, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block.
With Reaves back and Kennard handling the ball less often, he needs to find a way to get opportunities while moving without the ball, and plenty of that falls on his teammates and the Lakers’ coaching staff.
Marcus Smart: D-plus/C-minus
Smart wasn’t terrible offensively in this game. He hit both of his 3-point attempts in the first quarter to help Los Angeles get off to a solid start, and overall, he went 3-of-7 from the field, with all seven of his shot attempts coming from 3-point land.
But Smart didn’t make much of an impact elsewhere. He ended up with 11 points, five rebounds and two assists, and he committed six turnovers. In general, the Lakers made too many risky passes, and that was a major reason why they failed once again to put the Rockets away.
Rui Hachimura: B-minus
Hachimura had a decent seven points on 3-of-7 shooting in the first half. But he got quiet and arguably passed up shots afterward. He scored three points apiece in the third and fourth quarters, and that was when L.A. could’ve used some more aggression from the forward.
He finished with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting, four rebounds and one steal in 37 minutes.
Deandre Ayton: A
As much as any of his teammates and likely more, Ayton did his job in Game 5. He made his presence felt in the paint, and he made nine of his 14 shot attempts, giving him 18 points. Even better, he devoured the backboards to the tune of 17 rebounds while also blocking two shots.
On the defensive end, as he has often done in this series, he played physical positional defense on Sengun and limited Sengun to 14 points, and his overall defense helped force Sengun into five turnovers.
LeBron James: B-minus
James seemed a bit fatigued in Game 4, but he looked energetic to start this game. While he was quiet in the first half with eight points on 3-of-8 shooting, he started to assert himself a little more afterward.
He had 11 points in the fourth quarter, and for a moment, it looked like perhaps he was starting to set himself up for a memorable close. He ended up with 25 points on 9-of-20 field-goal shooting, to go along with seven assists, three rebounds and two assists.
However, James had some critical miscues. He missed three of his 10 free throw attempts, and in the closing seconds, he may have made a bad decision when the Lakers still had an outside shot at winning. With 19.9 seconds left, Amen Thompson of the Rockets was fouled intentionally to stop the clock with the Lakers down 96-93. He made one of two free throws, and afterward, Los Angeles simply needed a quick 2-point basket. Instead, James hastily pulled up for a 3-pointer, which he missed.
On the night, James missed all six of his 3-point attempts.
Austin Reaves: B-minus
In his return, Reaves had an uneven performance. He wasted little time in his return from an oblique injury by hitting a deep 3-pointer shortly after he checked into the game off the bench. He scored eight straight points in the first quarter to help the Lakers open up a sizable lead, and he was 3-of-6 from the field with 11 points in the first half.
But afterward, he shot mostly blanks, and this is where all the time he missed may have caught up to him. He missed all but one of his 10 shot attempts after halftime, and while he did a good job of getting to the foul line and hitting his foul shots (he went 12-of-13 from the charity stripe), he ended up just 4-of-16 from the field. His stat line — 22 points, six assists, four rebounds and one block — looks solid, but his 22 points didn’t have the type of impact one may expect because of all the extra shots he missed.
Jaxson Hayes: D-minus
Hayes was virtually more of a spectator than a participant in this game. He played 10 minutes, went scoreless and didn’t even attempt a field goal, and he only had one rebound and one assist.
Jake LaRavia: D
Once again, LaRavia barely made any impact on this game. In nine minutes, he attempted one shot, which was a layup he made, and he ended up with two points, two rebounds, one assist and one block.
Jarred Vanderbilt: D
Vanderbilt got onto the court for six minutes and scored two points on 1-of-3 shooting and got two rebounds.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers player grades: L.A. again fails to put the Rockets away
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
