LeBron James was on fire since jumpball, Rondo got hot in the fourth quarter, Lakers lead series 2–1
Lebron James had 36 points, seven rebounds and five assists, Rajon Rondo scored 13 of his total 21 points in the fourth quarter and Lakers beat 112–102 Houston Rockets on Tuesday night and now they lead the series 2–1 in their Western Conference playoff series.
Anthony Davis had 26 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, while Kyle Kuzma notched 14 valuable points coming off the bench for the Lakers.
James is the only player who has 162 playoff victories in the history of the NBA. He surpassed Lakers former champion Derek Fisher who has 161, while in the list there are a lot of elite players such as Tim Duncan who has 157 and another two Lakers greats Robert Horry and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
“It’s very humbling,” James said. “It’s something that I never dreamed of.”
“Nobody impacts winning more than LeBron James,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “That’s true for this season. That’s why he should be MVP. Honestly, it’s probably true in the history of the game. Nobody impacts winning more than LeBron James. To see him have that actual numerical statistic is just indicative of that.”
James also had four blocks in the game passing Julius Erving for the 12th spot in the rankings for total blocks in the playoffs.
Rondo made some critical shots in the second half to put the Lakers ahead leaving no margin to Rockets to make a late comeback.
“I just took what was given,” Rondo said. “It started on the defensive end for me. Guys found me when I was open, and I took the shots with confidence. And I got some easy layups.”
“Playoff Rondo is real,” Davis said of Rondo’s performance. “His intensity picks up. He wants to guard the best perimeter guy. … He’s shooting the ball very well, making the right passes. His IQ is on another level.”
James Harden scored 33 points, had nine rebounds and nine assists while Russell Westbrook had 30 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Rockets shot 46.9% from the field and made just 12-out of-30 three-point shots. They got out-rebounded as they had total 33 rebounds while Lakers had 52.
Rockets forward Robert Covington was taken out of the game in the second half after colliding with Davis. Both guys remained down after the collision, Davis got elbowed by Covington in the right side, while Covington hit his face on Davis right shoulder. Coach Mike D’Antoni was asked to give an update on Covington’s situation but he clarified that he didn’t have any information to cite.
Covington and Eric Gordon finished the game with 10 points, while Jeff Green had 16 points and two rebounds.
The game was really close as it featured 16 lead changes and 15 ties, with neither team pulling ahead by more than six points until the Lakers took control late in the second half.
“Too many 50–50 balls we didn’t get, too many times we just weren’t sharp,” D’Antoni said. “We just weren’t quick to the ball or quick to a play and it got away from us. They hit a lot of good hard shots. Tonight they got us. Next time, we’ll see what we can do.”
Game 4 is Thursday.