Despite the Los Angeles Lakers losing Game 5 to the Houston Rockets, LeBron James isn’t showing any sign of panic after his Lakers failed to clinch a game finisher for the second time. Yankee Scores reports.
LeBron James’ Post Interview
“We don’t have a lot of time to dwell on it,” said James after the Lakers 93-99 loss to the Rockets.
He continued, “You can give yourself tonight, a little bit of tomorrow, but once we get on that plane and head down to Houston, we’ve got to forget about it and understand what we’re going for,” he added. “It’s going to be even harder. Every game is hard. It’s so hard to close out a team in the postseason, to win a series, and this is our first time doing it as a unit, so we’ll see what we’ve got.”
If the Rockets tie the series on Friday night, the Lakers will be the fifth team to allow a winner take all Game 7 from a 3-0 playoff series lead.
LeBron James finished the game with 25 points and seven assists, scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter before coming short at the biggest moment.
Reed Sheppard’s Masterclass
Reed Sheppard made up for Game 3 by ripping the ball out of James’ hands and drove for a key dunk with 2:20 minutes left to play after the Lakers reduced a 13 point deficit to three. James capped his 0-for-6 night from a distance after missing two 3-point attempts in the final 30 seconds of the game.
“We have some opportunities to make some shots we didn’t make,” James said. “As much as we’ve got to defend, we’ve also got to score, too. I don’t think we did that at a good rate, especially in the second and third (quarters).”
The Lakers struggled offensively compared to the Rockets, who are without top scorer Kevin Durant. Despite outrebounding the NBA’s top rebounding team, their inability to score became their undoing.
Austin Reaves Return
Reaves returned to Game 5 with 22 points, 4-for-16 shooting. “It helps when shots go in,” Reaves said. “I missed two easy layups. I missed two or three good looks from 3, one midrange. But you make shots, you miss shots and we’ll move on to Friday.
What’s Next
The Lakers will go to Texas for Game 6 against Rockets, who on the other hand will be looking to make history by tying the series.
