ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Lakers 4/29/2026 (Playoffs Round 1, Game 5)

Eason and Smith were fantastic tonight on both ends. Props to Amen and the other 2 on defense. They stepped it up in order to deal with the Sengun/Reed combo on the defensive side. That's why they won tonight.

 

at least tari acknowledged he took a terrible shot on that put back attempt after the offensive rebound.

 

Laker fans are coming from Richmond and Fulshear
Who else is buying houses way the hell out there?

 

Nope. If Ted Cruz was at the last game and the Rockets won, then the Rockets have bypassed all the curses, lol.

 

The problem is that we have a very young core and when they play with KD, they feel like they have to be perfect and avoid mistakes so they don't get on his bad side. It creates an atmosphere where they feel indebted to him. When he's not on the floor they play with more freedom and the team looks more connected imo. KD comes off like a judgmental dad who doesn't take you fishing or to games only sits back and criticizes because he can and feels like he should 24/7. You don't want your vet to be your dad you want him to be your uncle. Fred is the uncle, KD is the dad.

 

LeBron complaining about soft calls.... I've seen it all now.

 

That’s what you get for shoving him!

 

Bari very mature

 

That game was so fukc!ng fun.

so proud of these guys, they earned a good night.

can’t wait to see them try again in Houston

 

Built different

 

Great we should become a Hockey team.

 

LET'S ****ING GOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

PLEASE GOD LET US BE ThE FIRST TO COME BACK 0-3 AND AGAINST LeBitch

 

actually he was pretty solid. didnt cause any liability on defense.

missed a few boxout positions and lost several drives to the paint.

but saying he had a horrible game is legitly dumb naysaying, and no one cares about such lazy binary opinions after such a win.

ayton bodied him good but he didnt force it. unlike other centers in the league he gets less opportunities in picknroll (due to not having any other creative on the roster), or receiving the ball in good positions.

he could be better at securing the ball and have fewer turnovers,

but in general all the ball movement and getting better positions out of this collective good game of rockets is basically caused by his gravity, him drawing double teams.

and rockets’ chances in this playoff series are increasing the better he reads those double teams, is able to deliver the right pass, and that pass turning to be basket when open.

 

Bruh your ass crying in every ****ing thread I see you in. Take your soft loser mentality ass to bed

 

He's gonna have to do a better job on Ayton though. Can't let him get 10 offensive rebounds. That kept the Lakers in the game.

 

I summarize those teams something like
- Dale Ellis, Eddie Johnson, Ricky Pierce were all the EXACT SAME "rifleman" player. Machines just blistering you with jumpers into submission. Then Detlef Schrempf after.. just so George Karl can be a dick about it: "We keep THAT going, but more annoying Detlef for spite"

- Nate Mcmillan about 8.5 steals per game. People don't realize that "generic coach" now was an absolute disruptive force on the court. More than the actual "Glove"

- Big Smooth Perkins making 3's designed just to piss you off with. Cuz that just seemed the George Karl thing to do.

- It wasnt even about the Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp main stars. It was the support player pests. Within all this you'd either get catch an X-Man McDaniel punch, or some Michael Cage jheri curl hair drippings

And for some reason in that time, I associated Milwaukee being in the same "Pacific Northwest" region with Seattle. Like they had the similar crossover of players in "cold north climate" or something.

 

Oh my lord Hakeem hated playing against Michael Cage...

Who did they trade Detlef for?

Derrek McKey(sp?) was basically their Robert Horry.

Once they got Payton and Kemp that became a really scary team

 

This exactly and they defer to him, but when he is triple teamed, he doesn't know how to handle it. He's not the greatest passer and from what I can tell feels like he should have the ball every possession. Which may be true but that becomes predictable he has to them the youngsters do their thing and be more of a bail out to break the defenses psyche.