The Los Angeles Lakers just got absolutely embarrassed in Game 4 of their first round matchup against the Houston Rockets, being blown out 115-96.
All game, it felt like Houston had more juice than LA, but the goal was simple: keep things close, as the Rockets have struggled to close out games all season. At the end of the first half, LA trailed by only nine points, 56-47. This was a manageable score heading into the third quarter.
The Rockets had other plans coming out of the break, hitting LA with jab after jab, but things still seemed manageable. A quick swing, a couple of 3s, some stops, and LA could be back in the game, that was until Deandre Ayton got ejected.
At the 5:41 mark of the third quarter, Ayton was ejected for a flagrant 2 foul after falling for an Alperen Sengun pumpfake and accidentally elbowing him in the face (very soft ejection). On most nights, LA could find a way to still weather the storm without their starting center, but in Game 4, DA was the only consistent source of offense that JJ Redick had to lean on.
Ayton had 19 points and 10 rebounds on 75 percent shooting from the field when he was ejected from the game.
Deandre Ayton's ejection sealed the Lakers' Game 4 fate
All game long, Ayton was a beast. It started in the first quarter, where he was crashing the boards hard and denying Rockets drivers from scoring at the Lakers' basket. Then, in the second, the scoring started to break through.
Rockets head coach Ime Udoka tried to get Sengun some rest and went with a small-ball lineup, which Ayton ate up using his size to just shoot over Houston defenders at the rim. He finished through contact for an and-one, was using his footwork to manipulate, and looking flat-out dominant.
Although LA struggled to get its perimeter game going for all 48 minutes, one thing the Rockets had no answer for was Ayton. That ejection became the final nail in the Lakers’ Game 4 coffin.
Coming into this game, LA had a chance to put this series to rest, recharge, and reset for what appears to be a round two matchup with the defending champions.
Although they trailed heavily here, Ayton's performance offered hope they could still muster out a comeback. His ejection shut that down.
Not just in the postseason but throughout the course of the regular season, one of the biggest flaws with Ayton was and is consistency. Some nights he's a beast—others, fans may forget he even logged a minute.
So, for LA to have him go off for a near 20-point double-double in 25 minutes and it be washed away in a loss, hurt enough as is. It's even worse when you factor in that he didn't even get to finish the game and was sent to the showers early, killing any hope of a Lakers comeback.
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