Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka watched his team wilt late in the fourth quarter of Game 3 against the LA Lakers on Friday. Houston led 101-95 with under 30 seconds left in regulation before losing 112-108 in overtime.
In the postgame interview, Udoka, who could be in the hot seat due to the Rockets’ disappointing performance, responded when asked about his locker room message to the players:
“You know, ‘Grow up,’ and ‘You’re not that young anymore.’ We’ve been through the playoffs once, and we watched every situation just now.”
The Rockets held a six-point lead with 27.8 seconds left when Jabari Smith Jr.’s lazy pass was intercepted by Marcus Smart. Jae’Sean Tate compounded the mistake by fouling Smart’s 3-point attempt.
A few possessions later, Reed Sheppard also committed a turnover against LA’s backcourt pressure, an error that led to a game-tying 3-pointer by LeBron James with 13.6 remaining. Ime Udoka said that he called a timeout to run an elbow play for Alperen Sengun. Instead, Udoka’s players refused to execute the designed play.
Last year, Udoka guided the Rockets to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference but lost in a chippy seven-game series against the seventh-seeded Golden State Warriors.
After that severe postseason test, Udoka threw inexperience and youth as excuses for his players’ meltdown against the Lakers.
Ime Udoka Calls Rockets’ Late-Game Turnovers “Horrendous”
Ime Udoka gave his Houston Rockets a blunt assessment after the embarrassing Game 3 loss to the LA Lakers. The former Boston Celtics coach responded when asked about the crucial late-game stretch in regulation that proved costly for the home team:
“Horrendous mistakes. I don’t know if you wanna say youth or scared of the moment, whatever the case.”
The Rockets never recovered from the spate of errors, which Udoka insisted could have been avoided with level-headed play.
No team has ever won a playoff series after losing the first three games. Unless the Rockets show better poise and composure, their season could end on Sunday.
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