Have the Basketball Gods finally given up on the Los Angeles Lakers or will they flip the script once again and unleash the hidden superstar in Austin Reaves to close out Houston and power LA to a miraculous upset of OKC?
We’ll hopefully find out tonight whether some harsh feelings over the way Game 4 ended and the long-awaited return of Austin Reaves give the Lakers the edge they need to close out the Rockets 4–1 in a gentlemen’s sweep. Understanding they’re just a miraculous finish in Game 3 from a 2–2 tie, the Lakers need to finish this series tonight even though it likely means Luka won’t be available for the start of the second round vs. the Thunder.
Best case for Lakers now appears to be Austin Reaves playing tonight and helping LeBron close out Houston in Round 1 and split first 2 games of Round 2 in OKC to give Luka Doncic more time to return for Game 3 in LA. Buoyed by their Game 4 blowout, the Rockets still believe they’re the better team and are determined to steal tonight’s game in LA, return to Houston to take Game 6, and then close out their 0–3 comeback in Game 7 in LA.
Meanwhile, the Lakers are looking for Reaves and the home crowed to fix their dismal 3-point shooting and huge turnover problems from Game 4 to to avoid a disastrous comeback and close out the heavily favored Rockets.
While losing Game 5 would certainly ramp up the risk of becoming the first NBA team to blow a 3–0 series lead, the Lakers cannot ignore the reality that a loss could give Luka a chance to be ready for Game 1 of Round 2.
For Austin Reaves, tonight is more than his first playoff game of the year. It’s his opportunity to prove last season’s poor playoffs were an outlier by producing like the All-Star and All-NBA player he was during the season.
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