Despite the return of star Austin Reaves, the LA Lakers were defeated by Houston Rockets in Game 5 of their series.By ReutersPublished On 30 Apr 202630 Apr 2026Jabari Smith Jr scored 22 points and Tari Eason added 18 as the Houston Rockets fought off elimination for a second consecutive game and crawled back into their first-round, Western Conference playoff series with a 99-93 road victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 on Wednesday.Alperen Sengun scored 14 points with nine rebounds and eight assists while Amen Thompson added 15 points for the Rockets, who now trail 3-2 in the best-of-seven series after falling into a 3-0 hole. No NBA team has rallied back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list“Everybody feels amazing,” Sengun said of his team. “Nobody is tired and today everybody showed it. Now, we’re going in front of our families, our fans, we’re gonna protect our home and come back here for Game 7.”The consecutive Rockets victories have come without star Kevin Durant (ankle), who has only played in Game 2.Star guard Austin Reaves scored 22 points off the bench in his return from an oblique injury and LeBron James added 25 points for the Lakers. Deandre Ayton scored 18 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for Los Angeles, which will get a third chance to clinch the series on Friday at Houston.“You have to give them credit,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said of the Rockets. “They made shots tonight, including some guys who don’t normally make threes. I think our defence, you hope 99 (points allowed) is enough to win, and we just couldn’t make shots. Missed some l …
