Houston Rockets @ Los Angeles Lakers
Wednesday, April 29, 2026 at 10:00 PM ET
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA | Game ID: 42500175
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
LAL 28 19 20 26 93HOU 21 30 25 23 99
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Rockets beat Lakers 99-93 in Game 5, avoiding playoff elimination for the 2nd straight game
LOS ANGELES -- — Jabari Smith Jr. scored 22 points, Tari Eason added 18 and the Houston Rockets avoided playoff elimination for the second straight game with a 99-93 victory over the Lakers in Game 5 on Wednesday night, trimming Los Angeles' lead in the first-round series to 3-2.
Alperen Sengun had 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the fifth-seeded Rockets, who sent the series back to Houston for Game 6 on Friday night with a gritty performance to overcome Austin Reaves ' return to the Lakers .
Houston has won two straight even without top scorer Kevin Durant , who has missed four of the series' five games with injuries.
“We put ourselves in a bad position, but we can still make history and come back one game at a time,” Sengun said. “Play at home, come back here, just do the same thing we're doing.”
No team has ever recovered from an 0-3 deficit to win an NBA playoff series, but the Rockets are halfway. Only four of the 159 teams to start a series down 0-3 have ever even forced a Game 7.
LeBron James scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half and added seven assists, but Los Angeles lost its second straight after stealing Game 3 with an improbable rally in the final seconds of regulation.
James’ teams have never blown a 2-0 series lead in his entire 23-year NBA career.
“Listen, it’s one game,” James said. “You give credit where credit is due. They played well the last two games, exceptionally well, and we’ve got to answer the call.”
Reaves had 22 points and six assists in his return from a nine-game injury absence for the Lakers, but they committed 15 mostly atrocious turnovers in their worst performance of the series and only their second loss in 16 home games since February.
Los Angeles awoke for a late 11-1 run and trimmed Houston’s lead to 88-85 on a driving layup by James, but Reed Sheppard hit a jumper before ripping the ball away from James for a dunk with 2:20 to play. The moment looked like redemption for Sheppard, who committed a turnover forced by James that led to the Lakers' last-minute comeback to tie Game 3.
"After what happened in Game 3, we could have very easily shut it down and pouted and quit," said Sheppard, who was ill with congestion and a headache during the day. “That's not what we did. We watched it and we learned from it. We keep fighting and keep giving ourselves a chance to win.”
Deandre Ayton had 18 points and 17 rebounds for Los Angeles, which is still without Luka Doncic . The NBA scoring champion doesn't appear to be close to a return from a strained hamstring.
Strained oblique muscles had sidelined Reaves since April 2, but he had 11 points and six assists in the first half of Game 5. Yet the Rockets coolly carried an advantage into the second half and led 87-74 with 5:55 to play.
Ayton's putback dunk made it 96-93 after James and Reaves both missed open 3-pointers. But Thompson hit one of two free throws, and James badly missed another 3-point attempt that allowed Houston to ice it.
The Rockets shot particularly poorly while losing the series' first two games in Los Angeles, but they've rediscovered their collective touch while running a balanced offense in Durant's absence. Houston has played with the confidence exemplified Tuesday by Smith, who claimed the Rockets were “obviously the better team” despite their 3-1 series deficit.
The Rockets' resilience is also good news for the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder , who are resting and awaiting the series winner after sweeping Phoenix.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
LALAR A. Reaves
DA D. Ayton
JH J. Hayes
JL J. LaRavia
JV J. Vanderbilt
LJ L. James
LK L. Kennard
MS M. Smart
RH R. Hachimura
HOUAH A. Holiday
AS A. Sengun
AT A. Thompson
DF D. Finney-Smith
JO J. Okogie
JS J. Smith Jr.
RS R. Sheppard
TE T. Eason
LAL/HOU the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur