HOUSTON — One team played like its season was on the line.
The other team was the Lakers , who were on the losing end of Sunday's Game 4 at Toyota Center for their first loss of their first round playoff series against the Rockets .
After falling behind in the series by three games, the Kevin Durant-less Rockets were the more urgent and aggressive team in their 115-96 blowout victory over the Lakers, who consistently struggled to generate offense the entire game .
The Lakers shot 50% from the field (37 of 74), but only made 5 of their 22 3-point attempts, with three of their 3s coming after coach JJ Redick subbed out the rotation players with 7:25 left in the game.
It was their fewest made 3s in a playoff game since making four 3s on April 26, 2013 (Game 3 of 2013 first round series against Spurs ).
"[The Rocket had] a top-10 defense the entire season," Redick said postgame. "It's obviously very challenging without your two leading scores to generate offense. We'll take a look at the process again on that end as well. And I know our points per shot and our expected points per shot were slightly below our season average. So to me, again, it goes back to the two keys: Take care of the ball. And we'll look at that and how we can be better there."
Deandre Ayton (19 points and 10 rebounds) and Rui Hachimura (13 points) were the only Lakers who found any sort of offensive rhythm in Game 4 – and Ayton was ejected in the third quarter after being assessed a Flagrant 2 foul after elbowing Rockets All-Star center Alperen Sengun in the head.
LeBron James finished with 10 points, 9 assists and 4 rebounds. AP
Ayton and Hachimura combined to shoot 15 of 22 from the field.
LeBron James finished with 10 points on 2-of-9 shooting to go with 9 assists and 4 rebounds, but was one of many Lakers who struggled with taking care of the ball, having a team-worst 8 turnovers/
Marcus Smart (9 points, 5 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocked shots), had 4 of the Lakers' turnovers.
The series will head back to Los Angeles for Game 5 with the Lakers leading 3-1.
When the Lakers committed three turnovers on four possessions early in the first quarter.
They were still leading at the time, but it set a poor tone for the remainder of the game, with the Rockets ramping up their defensive pressure from there.
"Just a little bit of lackadaisical from us," Smart said. "We've been playing our asses off these past three, four games, right? They came out, they did their job."
The Kevin Durant-less Rockets were the more urgent and aggressive team. NBAE via Getty Images
The Lakers committed 24 turnovers on Sunday, their most in a playoff game since 2020. NBAE via Getty Images
Thompson has been the Rockets' best player in the series and was their most important on Sunday.
He finished with team-highs of 23 points and 7 assists, with all five Rockets starters scoring in double figures.
Tari Eason added 20 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals. Sengun has 19 points and 6 rebounds.
That's how many turnovers the Lakers committed on Sunday, their most in a playoff game since having 24 turnovers on Sept. 20, 2020, which was their win over the Nuggets in Game 2 of the 2020 Western Conference Finals.
The Rockets scored 30 points off the Lakers' giveaways.
"We knew coming into the series, we have to protect the ball versus them and not have not have too many pick-sixes, which we did all night," James said. "It started with me, obviously. My turnovers were unacceptable
Game 5 of the Lakers' playoff series against the Rockets is scheduled for Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena with a 7 p.m. tipoff.
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