Welcome in to the recap of Game 5. The Lakers complete yet another gentleman's sweep, putting the Rockets out of orbit 96-119. The Lakers advance to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2010.
Now that's how you dominate from start to finish! Game 4 left a bad taste at the end with the Lakers committing mental mistakes, allowing the Rockets to creep back in. Tonight, no comeback this time. Houston did have that mini run at the start of the 2nd quarter. But, the Lakers outplayed them big time to close this series out.
I said in my preview, the 3-point shooting is going to be an X-Factor in this matchup, especially for everyone outside LeBron and AD. It took awhile throughout the series, but when it mattered the most, they fired from all cylinders. Markieff Morris, Danny Green, and KCP showed out in this category. 'Kieff has been the game-changer throughout this series and he capped it off with 16 points and shot a perfect 4-4 from three. Danny Green added 14 points, shot 4-6 from three. KCP chipped in 10 points, shot 2-3 from three. Kyle Kuzma shot 3-6 from three and finished with 17 points off the bench.
The Lakers beat the Rockets at their own game tonight. Outside of James Harden's efficient 30-point night, the Rockets couldn't buy a bucket. Credit to the stifling Laker defense for that. They had the perimeter on lockdown and completely took Houston off their game. In the 3rd quarter, between the 9:52 mark and 4:59 mark, they couldn't buy a bucket. They got outscored 18-33 and never made another run.
With how the supporting cast stepped up, LeBron and AD didn't have to be great. LeBron still put up numbers we're accustomed to with 29 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. Though AD had only 13 points, he crashed the boards with 11 rebounds tonight. We can live with AD's off-game offensively, considering how the team played at a high level tonight. But he still did everything else from rebounding to anchoring the suffocating defense that the Lakers displayed out there tonight.
For the first time since 2010, the Lakers are in the Western Conference Finals. I've ran this blog for a long time after the Lakers' win over the Celtics in Game 7 that year. Back then, it's like these deep playoff runs were a guarantee. But for 10 years, it never happened. I thought by starting off this blog, I cursed the Lakers into mediocrity. Now to see them back one series away from the NBA Finals, it feels great.
But they're not out of the woods yet. They will await the winner of Clippers-Nuggets. Without question, the Clippers pose the biggest threat to the Lakers' championship aspirations. They're deep in every position. But last night, they had a hiccup closing out Denver. Maybe the Clipper curse is still very real. But if it comes down to it, it's gonna be an exciting battle with the two LA teams if the Clippers do their job tomorrow night. It's just too bad that it's not gonna happen at Staples Center. Anyway, we'll await the winner and I'm going to post my preview immediately after. I'll see you guys later.
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