There was lots to dislike about the Lakers\u2019 performance in Game 4.<\/p>\n
The offense looked stuck in mud. There was an alarming amount of turnovers and nearly all of them were live ball, which ruined any chance of a win. That will be discussed in the coming days on this site.<\/p>\n
But I\u2019d like to mention that god awful officiating. And not even in a sense of play-to-play calls or one player getting superstar calls or baiting officials. It was the big things that were just very dumb and bad.<\/p>\n
First, Deandre Ayton being ejected was one of the crazier refereeing decisions I\u2019ve seen this year. It was pretty clear what happened in that play with Ayton trying to brace himself and his arm slipped up Alperen \u015eeng\u00fcn\u2019s back and into his head. It looked bad, but in the modern NBA, basically everyone agreed that it was a Flagrant 1.<\/p>\n
Except James Williams, who threw Ayton out of the game for a Flagrant 2 foul. It was a decision that includes ignoring a large amount of context of the situation to come to that conclusion.<\/p>\n
Then, he watched Marcus Smart get Draymond Green-ed and determined the kick was actually more to his thigh, so it\u2019s fine? I\u2019m sure if he had talked to Marcus, his high-pitched voice would have told him it wasn\u2019t to his thigh.<\/p>\n
He capped off his wonderful night by throwing out Adou Thiero and Aaron Holiday in the final minutes because he needed to make sure everyone knew he was the star of the show. Thiero and Holiday were getting a little chippy under the basket, but it was Holiday entirely being the aggressor. It was a textbook away-from-the-play foul. In no scenario did that warrant an ejection.<\/p>\n
The NBA has an officiating problem that badly needs addressed.<\/p>\n
Anyway, let\u2019s dive into the loss<\/a>. As always, grades are based on expectations for each player. A \u201cB\u201d grade represents the average performance for that player.<\/p>\n 33 minutes, 10 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists, 8 turnovers, 2 fouls, 2-9 FG, 0-3 3PT, 6-6 FT, -18<\/p>\n This is up there with one of the worst games LeBron\u2019s played as a Laker. The context of him being 41 years old coming up against a young, desperate Rockets side trying to avoid a sweep should be taken into account, but he was really, really bad.<\/p>\n 30 minutes, 13 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 6-10 FG, 1-2 3PT, -18<\/p>\n Rui had a pretty decent night offensively, but Houston and Amen Thompson were able to exploit his lack of foot speed defensively. Amen is in a good rhythm the last two games and the Lakers will need to adapt.<\/p>\n 25 minutes, 19 points, 10 rebounds, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 9-12 FG, 1-1 FT, -19<\/p>\n Ayton is the only one who can really come away from this one with his head held high. He had a pretty egregious turnover to end the first quarter but he also looked like the only way who gave a damn before his ejection.<\/p>\n 31 minutes, 9 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks, 4 turnovers, 2 fouls, 3-8 FG, 0-2 3PT, 3-3 FT, -20<\/p>\n While Smart had some ugly turnovers \u2014 including replicating his early-season faux pas by not stepping out of bounds<\/a> to inbound the ball \u2014 and a couple of plays that made it look like the minutes from Friday were catching up with him, he was also racing around the court as well. You can\u2019t fault the effort. You can fault the execution.<\/p>\n 32 minutes, 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 3-8 FG, 0-3 3PT, 1-1 FT, -13<\/p>\n While Luke had a couple of nice moments early in the game, overall, he came back down to Earth in the two games in Houston. He\u2019s in an outsized role and being asked to do a lot, in his defense. Hopefully a return home will help him bounce back.<\/p>\n 16 minutes, 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 2-5 FG, 0-1 3PT, 2-2 FT, -14<\/p>\n I get that LaRavia is another player in an outsized role, but, man, this has been a really brutal postseason for him. And this was his best game of the playoffs, too. His length and defense is keeping him in the rotation, but it\u2019s getting hard to justify him getting many minutes.<\/p>\n 15 minutes, 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block, 4 fouls, 1-2 FG, 0-2 FT, -4<\/p>\n We went back to the version of Hayes that was jumping at pump fakes and committing some really bad fouls. This was a rough game. Again, role players tend to play better at home, so hopefully there\u2019s a bounce back game coming.<\/p>\n 14 minutes, 8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 4-6 FG, 0-1 3PT, 0-1 FT, -1<\/p>\n Vando\u2019s stat line is a little bit of fool\u2019s gold because most of his scoring came in garbage time. Seeing him moving around the baseline and in the paint was interesting, but it\u2019s hard to use him that way with an actual center on the court.<\/p>\n 15 minutes, 5 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 2-5 FG, 1-4 3PT, -1<\/p>\n This was easily the most comfortable Bronny looked this season. He did a great job being a connecting piece offensively in the first half. He attacked closeouts, found the open player and chased down loose balls. His second stint was warranted, even if it bled into garbage time.<\/p>\n Adou Thiero, Dalton Knecht, Nick Smith Jr., Maxi Kleber<\/p>\n Nothing much from this group. Adou had a nice alley-oop finish and Knecht hit a three. But it all came in garbage time.<\/p>\n Well, JJ, the ball is now in your court. After three wins, the Lakers are now the team that will have to make adjustments. The offense hasn\u2019t looked good for six quarters now and that\u2019s to speak nothing of the rampant turnover issues.<\/p>\n After scheming their way into big games for Kennard and Smart, the pair have been held in check the last couple of contests. The Lakers need them, so can JJ get them going again?<\/p>\n They\u2019ll need to in order to finish off this series. Also, for the love of everything holy, stop having LaRavia bring the ball up the court.<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s inactives: Austin Reaves, Luka Don\u010di\u0107<\/p>\n You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude<\/a> or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social<\/a>.<\/p>\n