Lakers player grades: L.A. fails to sweep the Rockets in Game 4

Coming into Game 4 between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets on Sunday, the Rockets were in the improbable scenario of being down 3-0 to a Lakers team that has been without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. With Kevin Durant missing his second straight game due to an ankle injury, it looked like the Rockets had little chance of winning even one game in this series. But they started to assert themselves in the second quarter, allowing them to take a 56-47 lead at halftime.

The Lakers were plagued by miscues — they committed eight turnovers in the first quarter and 14 in the first half — and for the first time in the series, they had trouble hitting from long range. This game was practically over by the middle of the third quarter. Houston went ahead by 21 points with 6:20 left in the quarter, and L.

A. could never get anything going offensively for an extended period of time. The Lakers lost by a final score of 115-96, which means this series will continue for at least one more game.

In all, they committed 24 turnovers and gave up 30 points off those turnovers, and they went just 5-of-22 from 3-point range. While they still have a 3-1 series lead, they have lost a significant amount of momentum, and if they end up losing Game 5, the tone of this whole matchup will likely feel a lot different. Luke Kennard: C Kennard played very well in the first three games of this series, but he wasn't nearly as aggressive when it came to looking for his shot throughout Game 4.