When Deandre Ayton was ejected with 5:41 left in the third quarter of Sunday night's Game 4, it killed any shot the Los Angeles Lakers had to come back and challenge the Houston Rockets in the second half. What was even more frustrating for Ayton and the Lakers was that the ejection was completely unjustified, and Rockets center Alperen Sengun even suggested so after the game.
"I don't want to make the officials (sound) crazy, but I didn't expect him (to be) ejected," Sengun said. "I think it was a little bit soft."
Alperen Sengun comments point to silly Deandre Ayton ejection
Sengun is spot-on, and anyone who watched the game agrees. The play that got Ayton ejected saw him inadvertently elbow Sengun in the head as the two centers battled for position down low. There was nothing nefarious about Ayton's accidental elbow, but lead official James Williams completely got duped into thinking there was malicious intent when he watched the replay in slow motion. This was poor officiating, plain and simple.
Ayton isn't a dirty player and had no reason to attack Sengun here. He also clearly didn't elbow Sengun intentionally, as anyone watching the game in real time noticed. Ayton alluded to all of these things in his own postgame interview.
But Sengun's comments spoke volumes, considering they were coming not only from the opposition but from the very player upon whom the supposed ejection-worthy wound was inflicted.
Lakers can't blame Game 4 loss on terrible referees
Yes, Williams was atrocious as the lead official in Game 4, but the Lakers would've lost this game even if it were properly officiated. LA was outworked from the start of the game by a more desperate Houston team fully intent on staving off the death of their season.
The Lakers didn't have the fighting spirit required to pull off a sweep against the young, athletic Rockets, who used that energy to their full advantage against an LA squad that looked a step slow all night long.
Now, JJ Redick will have his team treating Game 5 in LA like an absolute must-win. The Lakers just gave Houston a tiny bit of oxygen, but if this series got to 3-2, the Rockets would arguably have more momentum than the Lakers, whose backs would be firmly up against the wall.
In Game 5, LA needs to be the aggressor from the get-go and outgrind the Rockets with the chaotic energy on defense that helped build a series lead in the first place. The Lakers shouldn't even be worried about their offense right now. Pour everything into high-energy defense, and this series will end on Wednesday night.
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