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!