The Los Angeles Lakers missed a golden chance to close out their first-round series, falling heavily to the Houston Rockets in Game four.
But for Marcus Smart, the issue wasn’t tired legs, it was something far more fixable.
Turnovers proved to be the defining problem. The Lakers coughed the ball up 23 times, leading directly to 30 points for Houston, a major swing in a game where momentum quickly got out of hand.
Smart didn’t shy away from the reality postgame.
“A majority of them were mental. We were dropping passes, myself included,” Smart said after the loss. “I was throwing passes to guys’ legs, normal passes that we make on a regular basis. But it’s something we gotta clean up. We know it and understand it. It’s not gonna get easier, we understand that. But we’ve played this team for four games now and the first three we did very well. So we understand it, just gotta continue to stay poised and get through it.”
There were reasons to suspect fatigue. Key players like LeBron James, Luke Kennard and Rui Hachimura had been logging heavy minutes throughout the series, while Smart himself had taken on a significant workload. Add in a quick turnaround following an overtime battle in Game 3, and the physical toll seemed obvious.
But Smart wasn’t buying that explanation.
“Just a little lackadaisical from us,” Smart added. “Shots weren’t falling early, when we got to the rim, a lot of contact and weren’t getting calls. So it played a part, but we’ll be alright, it’s part of it. We’ve been playing our asses off for the last 3-4 games so we understand they came out and did their jobs. So just bring it back to L.A. and we’ll see them there.”
The loss not only extended the series, but also gave Houston a surge of belief. With tensions rising, including on-court exchanges and multiple technical fouls, the edge between both sides is becoming increasingly clear.
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