Amen Thompson sparks Rockets'
115-96 rout to stave off elimination against Lakers
[April 27, 2026]
By KRISTIE RIEKEN
HOUSTON (AP) — Amen Thompson scored 23 points, Tari Eason added 20
and the Houston Rockets avoided elimination with a 115-96 rout of
the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 4 of the Western Conference playoff
series Sunday night.
Game 5 is Wednesday night in Los Angeles.
The Rockets got their first win in the series after falling into an
0-3 hole despite missing Kevin Durant for a third game thanks to a
balanced scoring attack. Durant sat out a second straight game with
a sprained left ankle after missing Game 1 with a bruised right
knee.
“I’m proud of the guys,” Thompson said. “Backs against the wall, us
coming to perform, but we know we can do that all the time. And I
feel like today we were making shots. It’s the first time we were
really making shots and we were capitalizing on the turnovers.”
Houston’s entire starting lineup scored at least 16 points with
Alperen Sengun adding 19, Reed Sheppard 17 and Jabari Smith Jr. 16.
The Lakers were led by Deandre Ayton, who had 19 points and 10
rebounds before being ejected with about 5½ minutes left in the
third quarter for a flagrant foul 2 on a hit to Sengun’s head. His
output wasn’t nearly enough to allow the Lakers to close the series
out on a night when LeBron James didn’t have his best game.
He had 10 points on 2-of-9 shooting with nine assists and eight
turnovers before sitting with about 7½ minutes to go after scoring
19, 28 and 29 points in the first three games. But he wasn’t the
only Laker who struggled. Los Angeles made just five 3-pointers
after combining for 35 through the first three games.
James was 0 for 3 from long range, Marcus Smart missed both of his
attempts and Luke Kennard was 0 for 3.
The Lakers had 23 turnovers Sunday night.
“If we want to win this series, we have to protect the ball and we
have to defensive rebound and we have to be able to obviously bring
that toughness which we did tonight,” James said. “I’m not worried
about that. But the turnovers obviously killed us from start to
finish.”
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Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson (1) looks to drive around Los
Angeles Lakers guard Marcus Smart (36) who reaches in during the
first half of Game 3 in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series
Friday April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Houston looked good from the start in this one
after squandering a six-point lead in the final 26 seconds of
regulation in a devastating 112-108 overtime loss Friday night.
“The focus was good today and I think just in general guys have
pride,” coach Ime Udoka said. “You obviously don’t want to get
swept. And we understood how well we played last game and that was a
big picture and the perspective we had was we played a really good
three quarters, don’t let that last 30 seconds take away from what
you did and I think it was a good carryover tonight.”
The Rockets led by nine at halftime and used a 12-4 run to start the
third and make it 68-51 with about 8½ minutes to go in the quarter.
They were up by 19 later in the quarter before going on a 9-3 run to
end the quarter and push the lead to 90-65 entering the fourth.
Houston led by 23 with about 7½ minutes remaining when coach JJ
Redick cleared the Lakers' bench.
Ayton was ejected with about 5½ minutes left in the third quarter
after receiving a flagrant foul 2 for hitting Sengun in the face
with his elbow and forearm. The referee announcing the foul called
the contact “unnecessary and excessive.”
Durant was on the bench Sunday night to support his team after he
was absent Friday night because Udoka said he was receiving
treatment on his injured ankle.
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