Are Lakers on Verge of Playoff Collapse?

James might feel too old to publicly rebut a younger player who doesn’t match his stature. But James can’t let the Lakers become the first team in NBA playoff history to squander a 3-0 series lead. He can’t allow the Lakers to become the fifth team to allow their opponent to force a Game 7 after losing the first three games.

“It’s going to be even harder,” James said. “Every game is hard. It’s so hard to close out a team in the postseason and to win a series. This is our first time doing it as a unit. So we’ll see what we got.”

James can share plenty of perspective in a 23-year NBA career that has resulted in four NBA championships, 10 Finals appearances and 19 postseason appearances. He can’t publicly say, however, there is no way the Lakers will lose this series to Houston. The general public can, though. This Rockets team has too many flaws to make NBA history.

Houston will be without Kevin Durant in Game 6 after he missed Games 3 through 5 with a sprained left knee. The Rockets’ Smith (22 points), Tari Eason (18), Amen Thompson (15), Alperen Şengün (14) and Reed Sheppard (12) all cracked double figures in Game 5. But that young core has labored inconsistently throughout the season and in the playoffs.

That doesn’t fully camouflage the Lakers’ issues, though.

James finished with a game-high 25 points on a respectable 9-for-20 shooting and seven assists in 39 minutes. He also played more aggressively in the third quarter to jump-start the offense. But it’s fair to wonder whether James feels tired. He went 0-for-6 from 3-point range in Game 5 after going 0-for-3 from deep in Game 4. And while the Rockets nursed a 90-85 lead with 2:20 left, Sheppard ripped the ball out of James’ hands and finished with a fast-break dunk.

After having two days to recover and prepare for Game 5, James only has a day to recover before traveling to Houston for Game 6. He may still battle fatigue and heavy legs in Game 6.

“We don’t have a lot of time to dwell on it,” James said. “You can give yourself tonight, a little bit tomorrow. But once we head on that plane and get down to Houston, we got to forget about it.”

Will that be enough time for Lakers guard Austin Reaves to feel more comfortable?

He provided 22 points, six assists and tons of energy in 34 minutes off the bench after missing the team’s final five regular-season games and first four playoff contests with a left oblique strain. But Reaves also looked tired. He shot 4-for-16 from the field and 2-for-8 from 3. He appeared rusty despite playing without a minutes restriction. Perhaps Reaves will appear more comfortable in Game 6. Many players struggle in their second game back following a lengthy absence, however, because the adrenaline wears off while the rust remains.

“I haven’t played in a month, unfortunately,” Reaves said. “I wish I could get in a little bit more of a rhythm than jumping into the fire like that.”

That puts the onus on the Lakers’ role players to step up. But it’s difficult to gauge what they will give. Deandre Ayton produced in Game 5 with 18 points and 17 rebounds. But he hardly contained Şengün as he did earlier in the series. Lakers guard Luke Kennard shot 0-for-4 and has gone a combined 7-for-24 in the past three games. His 9-for-13 clip in Game 1 and 8-for-13 mark in Game 2 feel like a distant memory. After elevating the Lakers with defense, leadership and shotmaking, Lakers guard Marcus Smart called it “unacceptable” that he committed six of the team’s 15 turnovers.

“We have to play like our back is against the wall,” Smart said. “We knew this would be a tough series. Everybody knew that. It’s turning out exactly what we expected. Now the fun begins.”

This shouldn’t seem like fun for the Lakers.

The Lakers lost days of potential rest and practice before they face the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round. They put more strain on James’ workload. They put more pressure on Reaves to shed his rust. They can’t lean on Luka Dončić to return because the Lakers have yet to clear him for full practices since he suffered a left hamstring strain 3½ weeks ago. They just gave the Rockets hope for Durant to play and confidence that their young players can correct their mistakes.

“It’s playoff basketball,” Smart said. “This is what every kid and every person and competitor dreams of with being part of the highest moment in the highest stage with the highest stakes. We knew that they weren’t just going to lay down. They did their job, and they extended the series.”

Now it’s on the Lakers to do theirs, or they will risk entering the NBA’s history books for the wrong reason.

“It’s the first team to win four games in a series,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “We happened to have won the first three. They have happened to have won the last two. We got to be better.”