Lakers’ comeback attempt thwarted in loss to Rockets

HOUSTON — The Lakers’ comeback attempt against the Houston Rockets on Sunday was thwarted by errant out-of-bounds plays late, stopping them from overcoming the Rockets’ early interior dominance.

The Lakers fell to the Rockets 119-115, with Houston grabbing 18 offensive rebounds and 28 second-chance points.

Despite Houston’s interior advantage, the Lakers had a chance to tie the game late, down three with just 7.2 seconds left.

But they didn’t execute their out-of-bounds play that was drawn up with the intent of getting LeBron James (21 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists) open for a 3.

James tried calling for a timeout when Max Christie was on the verge of being called for five seconds on his inbound pass, but the referees didn’t call one, with Christie’s pass to James being picked off by Fred VanVleet.

“They played it good, they stayed on top of everything,” James said. “I saw Fred shoot the gap on me and I called timeout before [the inbounds pass]. Max definitely still had the ball in his hands and it wasn’t rewarded. But that happens. We don’t lose a game because of that.”

Fred VanVleet split a pair of free throws, giving the Lakers the ball back down by four (119-115) with 4.9 seconds left.

“I just need to call timeout,” Christie said. “I gotta be better in that situation. I gotta make a better decision than trying to force it. So it’s on me.”

Anthony Davis (team-high 30 points, 13 rebounds, five blocked shots) was called for an offensive foul after James swished a 3 that would’ve cut the Lakers’ deficit to one.

“[Aaron] Holiday was grabbing my arm, I didn’t do anything,” Davis said. “The ref said I grabbed and threw him to the ground, which I didn’t. I was setting the screen on him and he just flopped and grabbed my arm and fell down. Called an offensive foul. We don’t… those calls are not made at the end of a basketball game. But, it is what it is. But that’s not the reason why we lost the game, obviously.”

Austin Reaves had a 21-point, 10-assist double-double. Dorian Finney-Smith, playing in just his fourth game with his new team, scored in double figures for the first time as a Laker, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting in 26 minutes off the bench. Rui Hachimura also had 13 points.

The Lakers, who lost both of their games in Houston last season by a combined 50 points, early on looked like they were on the verge of their third consecutive blowout defeat at the Toyota Center.

The Rockets outworked and out-hustled the Lakers early, just a couple of hours after coach JJ Redick praised his team for improving its physicality over the last month.

Houston took a 41-22 lead early in the second quarter after Rockets backup center Steven Adams grabbed his second of seven offensive rebounds of the game for a putback dunk. Amen Thompson, who scored 23 points on 11-of-19 shooting, also grabbed six of his 16 rebounds off of the offensive glass.

“A little bit of it is will,” coach JJ Redick said. “Adams is a guy I played and I know he’s like a tree down there once he gets positioned. It’s hard. I thought certainly Jalen Green’s shot-making was huge for them. But Thompson just killed us all night, whether that was in transition, with his cutting or on the offensive glass.”

The Rockets’ lead grew to as much as 22 (54-32) before Houston took a 67-49 lead into halftime.

James and Davis found their rhythm in the third, helping the Lakers get back into the game. The star duo combined for 25 of the Lakers’ 40 third-quarter points. James did most of his scoring damage from beyond the arc, knocking down four of five 3s, including a one-legged runner from beyond the arc to cut the Lakers deficit to four (80-76) late in the third.

Davis scored eight of his 11 third-quarter points inside the arc or at the free throw line.

Green, who scored a game-high 33 points, hit a fall-away 10-footer over Davis to give the Rockets a 117-110 lead.

Reaves drive and kick to Davis for the All-Star big man’s second 3-pointer of the game, cutting the Lakers’ deficit to 117-113 with just over a minute left.

After forcing an Alperen Şengün (14 points, six rebounds, four assists) missed floater with just under 50 seconds left, the Lakers came up the floor down just four, but James was called for an offensive foul while trying to post up Amen Thompson near the basket.

James made a layup in transition with 30 seconds left to cut the Rockets’ lead to two (117-115).

With the Lakers intentionally fouling late, Şengün split of pair of free throws, and James grabbed the defensive rebound after the second miss with the Lakers down by three.