Lakers at Rockets Playoff Game 3 Game Day 2026-04-24

Los Angeles Lakers

53-29 • 25-16 road

at

Houston Rockets

52-30 • 30-11 home

· 5:00 PM PT · TV: Prime Video

Spread: HOU -9.5 ·O/U: 206.5

Lakers

116.3 PPG

Rockets

115.2 PPG

Team Leaders

Lakers

LeBron James 20.9 PPG

Deandre Ayton 8.0 RPG

LeBron James 7.2 APG

Rockets

Kevin Durant 26.0 PPG

Alperen Sengun 8.9 RPG

Alperen Sengun 6.2 APG

Key Matchup

Kevin Durant (26.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 4.8 APG, 0.8 SPG, 0.9 BPG) vs LeBron James (20.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 7.2 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.6 BPG)

Injury Report

Lakers

Out: Austin Reaves

Out: Luka Doncic

Rockets

Day-To-Day: Kevin Durant

Out: Steven Adams

Out: Fred VanVleet

Season Series: LAL win 2-1

West 1st Round - Game 3. Series: LAL lead series 2-0. The Lakers (25-16 on the road) visit the Rockets, who are 30-11 at home. HOU is favored by 9.5 points.

Riding momentum after a 101-94 win over the Rockets. How do you see game 3 playing out? Will this be a tight game?

I am disappointed with Laker fans that are not posting at all. Why have they all left the forum?

I have a feeling that the Lakers are going to sweep this serious with the Rockets.

Double Durant is the most important play in order to win against the Rockets.

Austin has been upgraded to Questionable. He is recovering faster than Luka.

In my heart of hearts, I prefer AR to get back in there first.

He makes his teammates better which is needed more that a prolific scorer right now.

Yes, this site has become a ghost town which is strange given there are thousands of members and many I presume are reading but not posting content.

How long have you been with LTB Axle?

Back in the day there were fights and all sorts of mayhem.

I loathed the arrogance and got booted for my retorts. I also left on my own accord for several years due to what I perceived as extremely self-righteous attitudes. I recall SPQR's inability to listen to facts that contradicted his preferences.

I do prefer the peacefulness but I doubt we are the only peaceful people on this forum.

Hear ye' Hear ye', take the time to jump back into this forum and keep it going next season you digital lurkers you...

The key to the Lakers continuing to win is to control the pace.

LeBron is very good at that.

Houston wants to run, but they seem to fall apart when one of their leaders, which I think are two, (Durant and Reed), are not on the floor.

Durant is a specialist and he needs a particular context to thrive and they do not have that in Houston.

The Lakers downloaded defense a couple of months ago and have been consistent with it. I assume Marcus brings that inspiration.

If they play hard, impassioned defense and control the pace, I think they will win the series in 4 games.

I’m guilty of that. I’ve been here almost daily for years but rarely comment these days. Never miss a game though and I am surprised at how well they’ve been doing despite missing Luka and Reaves. Their defense has been insane and if they keep it up, this could be a short series in favor of the Lakers.

I’m guilty of that. I’ve been here almost daily for years but rarely comment these days. Never miss a game though and I am surprised at how well they’ve been doing despite missing Luka and Reaves. Their defense has been insane and if they keep it up, this could be a short series in favor of the Lakers.

Welcome back and maybe you have inspired the rest to make a return.

Reaves will be back soon and LeBron's IQ is holding things down.

As I mentioned above, pace is the key. Preserves the old man and it keeps opposing teams, not named OKC, off balance.

Welcome back and maybe you have inspired the rest to make a return.

Reaves will be back soon and LeBron's IQ is holding things down.

As I mentioned above, pace is the key. Preserves the old man and it keeps opposing teams, not named OKC, off balance.

Maybe. I am sure many of those still lurk here.

I saw that Reaves is listed as questionable for tonights game so his return is definitely close. Fingers crossed on his return and hoping it doesn’t take any time for him to get back to his old form. I am quite surprised with how they have been playing in his and Lukas absence. Hopefully that defense doesn’t suffer when he returns and the margins increase. As for Lebron.. Holy cow, he is playing out of his mind given his age. He never ceases to amaze me. If not for him, we’d likely be down 2 right now instead of being up by 2. So many wanted to see him gone. Granted, we could afford another star on his salary but who knows where we would be without him. At least with him, we know where we are which isn’t a horrible thing right now.

Welcome back and maybe you have inspired the rest to make a return.

Reaves will be back soon and LeBron's IQ is holding things down.

As I mentioned above, pace is the key. Preserves the old man and it keeps opposing teams, not named OKC, off balance.

I’m kind of hoping Reaves comes off the bench initially as our bench needs a spark and he is just the person that could help there. I am sure JJ knows what he’s doing as he’s exceeded most expectations thus far in this series so we will see.

I post a lot, but sometimes i hold back because I can tend to be a Debbie Downer when its comes to maintaining optimism about the direction of the team. I get frustrated a lot and sometimes need to vent. When I vent, it's usually on here. As far as where everyone went, my thought is that they still members, but are paying attention more to Facebook grounds specifically related to the Lakers. My wife is on one and gets a lot of her information about the Lakers from there. I have been on this forum for nearly 15 years. My wife calls it, "The Big Purple Screen". The old design used to light up my computer room purple.

Post it anyway...

I think I started in 2007 with a number of years off in the middle.

Kevin Durant Day-to-Day again. They are playing games creating uncertainty.

That means they are less confident than folks might imagine...

On Lakers Nation it says that Kevin Durant is OUT....

Tonight it's his ankle and not his knee.

I think it's his fear!

No AR, no prob so far. Rui leading the way sniping from deep, while Smart, Kennard and Hayes continuing their terrific play this series. Lakers up 34-23, 2 mins to go in the 1st.

Ugh down to 5 just like that after refs call a bunch of fouls

Tough fade by Rui- he has 16 now. Hope Kennard is okay after that no call on the missed reverse.

Lakers up 39-32 as Hachimura with a great time to have his best ever scoring Q with 16 points.

Guys sharing the rock well- that tip-in by Vando was the first unassisted bucket by the Lakers

Lol Lebron the banked triple from the corner!

What's JJ screaming about?

That Shen the Goon throws elbows on every drive?

Here Bronny drills his own 3, now the driving layup- assist from the elder James!

Bronny 5 straight... Love it!

Smart the lob, Hayes the monster dunk! Lakers push the lead to 15

What a play by Smart stopping Thompson on the break- saved 2 points right there

Lakers up at the half. Lakers have played pretty good the first half. Hope they keep playing defense the second half and win this game.

Need some scoring help from LaRavia and Vando. Rui was on fire the first quarter.

Can't be fumbling so many balls away

Perfect read by Kennard- zips the pass out of the double to Rui who drills the 3. Pushes the lead back to 4.

That's a clutch triple by Lebron who hasn't missed from deep yet. More breathing room now at 78-71.

Lakers take a 5 point lead going into the 4th. Let's see if the guys can hang on- it'd be huge to go up 3-zip w/o AR & Luka.

Gotta lock up Jabari Smith as he is the only one who can make 3's for the Rockets

Lebron sizes up Sengoon, then races to the hoop for 2!

Smart retaliates with the turnaround J after Sheppard had deflected his shot last possession

But Lakers leave Sheppard open and his 3 has given the Rockets a 92-91 lead. 5 minutes to go.

No foul on that Kennard 3? But Hayes rebounds and slams it home

Hayes what a job first stopping Thompson and then comes back and blocks Sheppard's layup!

Lebron maybe getting a bit tired didn't get back and Sengun gets another layup. Lakers down 99-95, 50 seconds to go. Plenty of time- put up a good shot or get to the line.

Ouch- Sengun senses that pass from Lebron to Kennard, steals it and gets another pair. Lakers have a fighting chance here as Smart able to draw the foul on the 3. 101-98 with 25.4 to go, but Rockets ball.

Durant out and they blow it… Good job Lakers.

Small miracle with that foul against Smart...

Incredible sequence there by the King- pokes the ball away, now drills the triple to tie the game at 101!!

Ouch- Sengun senses that pass from Lebron to Kennard, steals it and gets another pair. Lakers have a fighting chance here as Smart able to draw the foul on the 3. 101-98 with 25.4 to go, but Rockets ball.

LeBron fell asleep a couple of minutes ago. Maybe he's exhausted.

He find it for the last 30 seconds here.

Just wow. That's what championships are made of.

Now win it Lakers...

Lakers can win it there as Sengun bricks and Lebron snatches the rebound, calls timeout with 0.9 to go!

Nick Smith Jr in

Wow Lebron's 3 rims out- thought it was going in. OT!

Final play, fake oop to Jax followed by real oop to Bron?

Lol Rockets are 1 and 7 in OT, so the Lakers should have a mental edge here

Smart snipes in a corner 3 as Lakers throw the first punch in OT

Baseline strong take by Rui!

What effort by Smart who gets another offensive rebound. Hurts his lower back a bit but able to hit 2 huge FTs. Lakers 109-105, 52 seconds to go.