The Los Angeles Lakers have emphasized avoiding turnovers and giving up offensive rebounds throughout their series with the Houston Rockets, but they were points of weakness in a 115-96 loss in Game 4.
L.A. had eight turnovers in the first quarter but only trailed by five points. They additionally remained within striking distance at halftime.
“We did a good job in the second quarter and kind of cutting into the lead. And then we had a few turnovers which was our kryptonite tonight,” LeBron James said after the loss. “Obviously we know that coming into the series we have to protect the ball versus them and not have too many pick-sixes.
“Which we did all night. It started with, obviously, my turnovers are unacceptable. But we’ll do a better job with that Wednesday. We understand that offensive rebounds for them and pick-sixes are not gonna be good for our ballclub. You give them credit where credit is due. They won tonight.”
James had a whopping eight turnovers in the loss, which led all players. It can be presumed some of the careless mistakes were a byproduct of playing 45 minutes en route to helping the Lakers steal a win in Game 3.
The Lakers as a team had 23 turnovers Sunday night.
The Rockets used a 12-4 run at the start of the third quarter to extend their lead to 68-51. They made another push to close out the quarter and took a commanding 90-65 lead into the final 12 minutes.
Despite that, James reiterated the Lakers’ woes stemmed from their troubles on offense. That included making just five 3-pointers.
“Defense wasn’t our problem tonight. It was the offense. We turned the ball over 24 times for 30 points. Defense wasn’t our problem. It was offense,” James said.
“We knew and we understand that if we want to win this series then we have to protect the ball and we have to defensive rebound and obviously bring that toughness, which we did tonight. I’m not worried about that. But the turnovers obviously killed us from start to finish.”
LeBron James upset with Deandre Ayton’s ejection
Deandre Ayton led the Lakers with 19 points despite getting ejected with just under six minutes remaining in the third quarter. That came after receiving a flagrant foul 2 for hitting Alperen Sengun in the face with his elbow and forearm, which was deemed “unnecessary and excessive” upon review.
The ruling did not sit well with Ayton, Lakers head coach JJ Redick, Marcus Smart or James.
“That was ridiculous,” James said.
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