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Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James (23) celebrates with Anthony Davis, left, and Alex Caruso after an NBA conference semifinal basketball game against the Houston Rockets on Thursday, September 10, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida . The Lakers won 110 -100. (AP Photo / Mark J. Terrill)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida – The Houston Rockets didn’t show up for Game 4 against the Los Angeles Lakers until it was too late.
They can’t do that again on Saturday in Game 5, or else.
For the second time in these playoffs, the Rockets’ season is on the line. The Lakers lead Houston 3-1 in their Western Conference semifinal series and could secure their place in the Western Finals with a victory Saturday night at Walt Disney World. It’s the only game on Saturday’s NBA schedule.
Houston already won an elimination game; defeated Oklahoma City in the seventh game of the first round. Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni doesn’t want his club to think about trying to win three games now, preferring to just focus on getting one.
“We have to win the next game,” D’Antoni said. “It’s a series of a game and then we’ll see what happens.”
Whatever happens for Houston, it will happen without Danuel House.
The Rockets’ situation worsened on Friday, when House was told to leave the bubble for the rest of the season because an NBA investigation showed he had a guest in his room “for several hours” this week.
The NBA said the guest “was not authorized to be on campus” and that its investigation showed no evidence that other players or staff were involved in the matter. A person with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press that the Rockets initiated the decision for House to leave. That person spoke on condition of anonymity because neither the Rockets nor the league publicly confirmed that detail.
“Mr. House will be leaving the NBA campus and will not participate with the Rockets team in additional games this season,” the league said.
House averaged 11.4 points in nine playoff appearances. He did not play in Games 3 or 4 against the Lakers while the matter was investigated.
The Lakers lost Game 1 and fell behind in the fourth quarter of Game 2. They outscored the Rockets by 10 points in the final period of that game to even the series, beat them by 10 points again in Game 3 and 10 points once more in Game 4.
LeBron James is on the brink of another conference final and said he sees a Lakers team that is in their first playoff run together and continues to grow. He thought the Lakers played 43 good minutes in Game 4; a five-minute stretch of the quarter in which Houston outscored Los Angeles by 16 points and turned it into a two-possession game was the omission of his tally.
“We want to fight for something better than that,” James said. “We want to work on the game plan for 48 minutes. … We continue to be a growing team. We have some guys who haven’t been a part of the postseason. This is our first race together. “
NBA scoring champion James Harden was just 2 of 11 shots from the field in Game 4 for Houston, and D’Antoni said the team played without “spirit” for much of that game.
If they do it on Saturday, they will leave the bubble before the end of the weekend.
“We know what we have to do,” said Russell Westbrook, who led Houston with 25 points in Game 4. “It’s going to take a lot of effort. It will take everyone to feel uncomfortable in their role and make sure that we understand that we all have to sacrifice some of the things we love to do, but we have to fight. That gives us the best chance to win games ”.
A look at Saturday’s game:
ROCKETS VS. LAKERS
Los Angeles leads 3-1. Game 5, 8 p.m. EDT, ESPN.
– NEEDS TO KNOW: The Lakers have taken Houston’s biggest weapon: the deep ball. The Rockets have hit a total of 63 3-pointers in the most recent two games of this series, a very low number for a team that won 61 in a single game earlier this season. If Houston is not on track, James will head to the conference finals for the 11th time in his career.
– KEEP AN EYE ON: Harden. Game 4 was only the eighth time in his career, and the first since 2015, when he played at least 39 minutes in a game and scored no more than two field goals. The Rockets need him to have a comeback game in the worst way.
– INJURY WATCH: The Lakers lost two players Thursday. JaVale McGee missed Game 4 with an ankle problem and Dion Waiters is out with a groin problem.
– THE PRESSURE IS ON: Houston. Everything in Houston. There has been much speculation about D’Antoni’s future with the team going forward for much of this season, and a five-game loss in the second round usually leads to big changes when a franchise has championship aspirations.
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