The Los Angeles Lakers missed a golden opportunity to close out their first-round series against the Houston Rockets in Game 5, falling 99-93 in a performance defined by one glaring issue: turnovers, and Marcus Smart took accountability.
Despite holding Houston to under one hundred points, the Lakers repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with careless ball handling, finishing with 15 turnovers that directly fueled the Rockets’ transition offense.
No player felt that weight more than Smart, who turned the ball over six times in a night he didn’t shy away from taking responsibility for.
“Taking care of the basketball,” Smart said after the loss. “We’ve been through this. We understand this team and how they play and they’re very aggressive and we gotta take care of the basketball. Myself, I had six turnovers and that’s unacceptable for me. Especially with only two assists, especially against this team. We definitely gotta take care of the ball, we gotta do a better job all of us, collectively, and that’ll help us for sure.”
Houston’s defensive identity has been built all season around pressure and physicality, and it showed again when it mattered most.
The Rockets consistently disrupted passing lanes and forced rushed decisions, something Smart admitted the Lakers were fully prepared for, but failed to execute against.
“We know what it is. We just gotta make shots,” Smart added. “We got guys doing things and we’re not giving ourselves a chance by turning the ball over which we can’t get a shot up on the rim because of that. And that hurts anybody no matter how good you are offensively, if you can’t get a shot up on the rim that’s always gonna hurt. But yeah, we know what it takes. We got good plays. The game plan is right, the coaching staff is doing a good job of putting us in the positions. We gotta go out there and capitalize on the plays that we are and make the best of them.”
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