2026 Playoffs: (4) Lakers Vs (5) Rockets - Discussion

Maybe KD will return out of embarrassment and thwart their efforts with another low energy performance?

Jokes aside, they locked in on defense and we went completely cold even on wide open looks.. have to control the pace and the ball and stop throwing stupid forced passes. We need to attack inside early and open up that 3pt line and only take wide open kick outs.. I think we can easily win this with a 20pt blowout.

 

The first 3 games were won by veteran grit and guile. Unfortunately that only goes so far. Rockets were clearly the better team and that is quite clear now.
I expect Rockets to win this in 7. I thought it would be a sweep or go to 5 at most so going up 3 was definitely surprising.

Unfortunately this looks a lot like the 2006 series against Phoenix when Phil had the team playing way above their heads the first 4 games. Then Phoenix realized they were the better team and won in 7. Unfortunately JJ is not Phil.

 

I really hate watching this guy play basketball



Bron ain't having it either

 

I can appreciate other players' talents. He's a good basketball player. I wish there were less flopping in general, to be fair. The league has turned into soccer, lol. Kind of nuts.

Either way, we have a real chance to lose the next two games. Houston has found a formula, and Luke and Marcus looked like sh** yesterday. We're going to need a herculean Bron performan one both Smart and Marcus to find their respective games for 1 game at least to close this out. This would be embarrasing if they came back and won, and at that point, everybody (aside from Luka) needs to be on the trade block.

 

KD out again for game 6, which is not good news for us

 

The mood is good. We got one, but we’re not happy with it. We’re going back to LA to fight again, no matter what,” he said regarding the team’s approach. Reflecting on the execution that led to the current series standing and their recent victory, he added, “I think we have been confident, just missing the shots. In the last game, we played with pace. We made them turn over a lot. Everybody did their job great. I think everybody is still hungry, and we are going over there to get another one, and come back home, and make them a little nervous.”
That's Sengun after game interview
Lakers will win by double digits I guess

 

Guys, I take full responsibility for this loss. I was at the game and midway through the third quarter, I talked mad s*** to a Clipper fan and then went and hit the vape pen. The Lakers sucked from pretty much that moment onwards. I clearly upset the basketball gods and now all of Laker nation is paying the price. I pledge to be respectful and sober while watching Game 6 and (gulp, if it happens) Game 7.

 

This is an aggravating position to be in, we definitely need to clean up the sloppy turnovers and it’s becoming clear that the scoring from our roleplayers in the first few games was a bit of fool’s gold. It’s not looking great.

But I think in the playoffs, the team with the best offensive player is generally going to have the advantage.

The best offensive player currently active in this series is Austin Reaves.

 

My turn to try... this series is over. I can't believe we let it slip away, pathetic really. FML

 

Nothing pathetic in it. Everyone had Rockets in 4 or 5. Our goal was to win a game. We happened to won 3, how's that embarrassing?
The Rockets are basically winning in 4 or 5, their series just started in game 3.

Our team has flaws and without Luka and AR we barely had a shot. We did wonderful in pulling up surprising wins.
It is a bad look to not be able to close a 3-0 lead but it doesn't concern because I just want 4 or 5 of those players next year and 2 didn't play

They're just better. More physical and overall better players. They have 4 of the 5 best players in the series, losing is normal. We need role players to have career high level performance, like Kennard and Smart pulled off early in the series

We are also asking more than Bron can give. He's a 3rd guy at best but we're asking him to be the 1a. It's unfair and totally reasonable he can't offer that. Must also be paid accordingly

 

Regarding this game in particular, we couldn't touch the paint. Bron, AR or Smart had a lot of trouble finding a clean path to the basket
Kennard was invisible. He can't go 0-4 all game. But that's what happens with role players. That's why we need 8-10 of them, not 4-5 like we have now

I expected we would be better by game 5 on offense, where JJ and Bron supposedly shine in the playoffs.

Next couple games have only a day of rest in between. Bron and the team in general suffered on game 4 because of it. It doesn't look promising and I wonder if they duck game 6 a little bit to save energy for game 7. It's common in tennis when holding serve (equivalent to home court in basket)

 

yeah, after some pretty unfocused efforts in games 4 and 5, i'd punt 6 and just put it all on game 7 at home.

there's a part of me that wonders if lebron saw what was going to happen in round 2 and kind of checked out, lol.

if we can't avoid throwing the ball to houston, i truly don't want to see what happens against the team that employs like, 3 of the top 5 perimeter defenders in the league.

 

Ouch!

 

These drop offs from Bron have became common. Even with AD, which was part of the reason nobody believed that pairing could win a title again.
Not the first time he looks amazing in a week and absolutely gassed in the other. It's completely normal, he shouldn't be doing any of this, it's absolutely amazing what he's able to endure

On the other hand, if you're able to have a team strong enough where you can play Bron for 25 minutes a game, you're in great shape

It is a disaster FOR YOU. It won't be for many people. Sure, there will be memes about it, but if you gauge your perception only on digital content, not sure is the best away.
I really can't see how anyone would feel ashamed. Bron has all the records in the game, it's not a 1st round series that taints his legacy

 

devil's advocate:

1. the press actually...doesn't mind making excuses for lebron? he'll be fine. all of a sudden, the sensible narrative that we were outmatched and despite his heroism, we succumbed (it was everyone else's fault) will win the day.
2. is losing by 40 per game against okc for 4 games better or worse than giving up a 3-0 lead whilst missing one of the league's best players and another all-star level player? yes, the laker-hating press will lap it up, but everyone will know what happened.

don't get me wrong; i'd rather win this series as a fan. partly bc lol eff houston. but i just can't get super worked up about it. we're not winning a ring this year.

 

it's a bad look for both Lebron and the Lakers. Not consequential in the grand scheme of things because we have no chance against OKC without Luka, but the fact is guys like Skip Bayless live to bring up these worthless stats to throw shade at Lebron. Most can't even admit that 2020 was a legit ring.

 

If before the series started you told me we’d lose in 7, I would have assumed I’d perceive that as a valiant effort we should be proud of. Overall a series loss here given our injuries shouldn’t be too surprising or upsetting in a vacuum.

But emotionally everything is different after going up 3-0, it just is.

I would rather have gotten swept than to lose in 7 while being the only team in history to give up a 3-0 lead.

Even if you flipped Game 3 and 4 and we ended up losing a 3-1 lead, I could stomach that. I know that SHOULDN’T really matter and it goes to show how trivial it is that there are suddenly higher reputational stakes just because we unexpectedly won 3 games in the order we did. But it DOES matter to me.

For me it’s not even as much as caring about LeBron’s reputation, it would be knowing that the Lakers would forever be discussed in a humiliating light whenever any team goes up 3-0 in the future.

 

It's true but truly, who cares?

All those clowns say the bubble ring didn't count, as you say. Who cares? Did it changed anything? Nobody worthy has that take and nobody talks about it. Everyone not trolling knows is a legit ring and we always say we have 17.

I think we give too much power to memes and online trends, they don't really reflect how most of the people feel and doesn't change anything. Like, any player that wanted to come to us via FA this summer won't think "oh they lost a 3-0 lead, I'm going to Cleveland".

We'll continue to be the best basketball franchise of the world and Bron will continue to be in the goat conversation.

 

I just don’t think it’s likely we lose the next two. If we played out of our skins in the first two games, they played out of theirs in the last two.

I do expect to close them out, because they’ll be the ones to have an off night.

I also don’t think it’s that deep, we just missed lots of shots we normally make. Defensively we were good.