Lakers Face Rockets' Fire in Game 5

The Lakers blew a chance to sweep the Rockets, dropping Game 4-1-15 to 96 in Houston.

They coughed up 23 turnovers, and hid just 5 of 22 from 3 point range in a flat performance.

Now up 3 games to 1 in the first round, but the pressure is real with no team ever coming back from 0-3 down.

Meanwhile, the Rockets brought the heat without Kevin DeRan for a second stray game, surging ahead with energy, the Lakers lacked.

Houston pulled away in the third quarter after the Lakers started strong, but fizzled with sloppy ball handling, entire legs from heavy minutes.

LeBron James struggled big time, scoring only 10 points on two makes with 8 turnovers himself, calling it unacceptable.

Coach J.J. Reddick pointed to missing top scores from injuries and a lack of desperation against the fighting Rockets squad.

DeAndre Aiden led with 19 points in 10 boards before a controversial ejection, her any comeback shot.

History still favors the Lakers at 159 wins, and 0 losses went up 3 games to none, though 4 teams have forced to Game 7.

Before, Austin Rees might return limited for Game 5 Wednesday, back at Crypto.com Arena, but Luca don't chitchfremain sidelined.

The Lakers know they got a match that Rockets fire at home, or risk real trouble.

Reddick says they'll give better, and with their clutch history, expect them to bounce back strong.

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