Jabari Smith Jr. scored 22 points and Tari Eason added 18 as the Houston Rockets fought off elimination for a second consecutive game and crawled back into their first-round playoff series with a 99-93 road victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.
Alperen Sengun scored 14 points with nine rebounds and eight assists, while Amen Thompson added 15 points as the Rockets now trail 3-2 in the series after falling into a 3-0 hole. No NBA team has rallied back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series.
The consecutive Rockets victories have come without star Kevin Durant (ankle), who has only played in Game 2.
Austin Reaves scored 22 points off the bench in his return from an oblique injury and LeBron James added 25 points for the Lakers. Deandre Ayton scored 18 points with 17 rebounds for Los Angeles, which will get a third chance to clinch the series Friday at Houston.
The Lakers continue to be without star Luka Doncic (hamstring), who was injured along with Reaves in an April 2 game at Oklahoma City. Both players missed the last five regular-season games and the first four playoff games.
The Lakers appeared determined to close out the series by taking an 11-point lead with a minute remaining in the first quarter and leading 28-21 after the opening period.
The Rockets stormed back for a 30-19 advantage in the second quarter and led 51-47 at halftime. Houston shot 6 of 12 from 3-point range in the second quarter and forced five turnovers.
The Rockets extended their advantage to 76-67 through three quarters.
Los Angeles used an 11-1 run to pull within 88-85 on a James layup with 2:59 left in the game.
A steal and two baskets from Reed Sheppard pushed the Rockets’ advantage back to 92-85 with 2:20 left and Houston turned four consecutive free throws into a 96-87 advantage with 1:32 remaining.
James and Reaves combined to miss three 3-point attempts over the final 28 seconds with James unable to pull the Lakers within two points when he was off target from long range with 12 seconds left.
After he averaged 25.0 points over the first two games of the series, Lakers sharpshooter Luke Kennard was held to one point on 0-of-4 shooting.
