The Los Angeles Lakers lost Game 4 of their first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in a blowout, according to an April 28 report. The defeat prevented the Lakers from completing a sweep of the Rockets.
Turnovers played a significant role in the loss, with the Lakers committing 23 turnovers that led to 30 points for Houston. Marcus Smart, a veteran guard for the Lakers, said after the game that these errors were due to mental lapses rather than physical exhaustion. “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.”
LeBron James, Luke Kennard and Rui Hachimura had all averaged around 40 minutes in previous games while Smart himself was above 35 minutes per game earlier in the series. Despite this heavy workload and only one night off following an overtime contest in Game 3, Smart maintained that fatigue was not primarily responsible for their performance issues.
“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 end of Game 4 also saw tensions rise between both teams with technical fouls issued and ejections occurring before players had to be separated on court as tempers flared during postgame trash talk exchanges.
Looking ahead to Game 5 back in Los Angeles, Smart emphasized its importance as potentially season-defining for his team.
