Ime Udoka denounces the Rockets team for “horrendous mistakes” that took the lead away from the Lakers
With 28 seconds left and the Rockets up by six and with the ball, Houston had the game in hand. They just had to take care of the ball and not make stupid mistakes.
They failed.
“Horrendous mistakes,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said, via the Associated Press. “I don’t know if you mean youth or fear of the moment, or whatever the case may be. You have a six-point lead with 20, or 30 seconds left, you get a rebound, you just have to keep the ball and get fouled.”
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It all went wrong for Houston when Marcus Smart stole the ball from Jabari Smith Jr., then Jae’Sean Tate fouled Smart on a 3-point attempt. Suddenly, it was a 3-point game. Then, LeBron James knocked the ball away from Reed Sheppard and turned it into a 3-pointer on the other end. Tie game. The Lakers won in overtime.
“On the final play, we didn’t execute what was set forth,” Udoka said of the Rockets’ last chance in regulation.
A frustrated Udoka couldn’t hide it.
“Closing out and finishing is obviously a weakness of ours,” Udoka said. “The amount or type of errors are enormous and you can’t have them…
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“Grow up,” he told his players. “You’re not that young anymore.”
His players agreed.
“It was a stupid turnover,” Sheppard said of his mistake late in the game. “(Alperen Sengun’s) man arrived. I should have hit Alpie from midfield and made a simple play. I tried to separate the two defenders.”
All of these mistakes left the Rockets down 0-3 to the Lakers and on the verge of an early playoff exit. Houston was without Kevin Durant in this game due to a sprained ankle, the second game missed by the future Hall of Famer in this series. His status for Sunday’s Game 4 remains unknown.