The Houston Rockets trail the Los Angeles Lakers 3-1 in a first-round series, but Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. emphatically believes that Houston is the better team. That's fine; confidence is important. The problem is, Smith decided to announce this belief to the world on Tuesday in an interview, providing the Lakers with some major bulletin board material.
“We’re obviously the better team, I feel like," Smith said ahead of Game 5. "I just feel like from top to bottom (we are better) ... you can say that’s an opinion. I’m biased; I just feel like we’re the better team.”
Jabari Smith Jr. just gave the Lakers extra motivation for Game 5
Beyond a terribly silly turnover and an even worse foul at the end of Game 3, Smith has played pretty well in this series. Maybe that's where the surety is coming from. He's averaging 18.5 points per game in the series and is 14-of-36 from 3 (38.9%), improvements on his yearly averages of 15.8 PPG and a 36.3 3P%.
Even so, saying you're "obviously" the better team when down 3-1 is a choice, and not necessarily a good one when you could have easily kept that opinion in-house. While Rockets head coach Ime Udoka might be shaking his head at Smith right now for the remarks, Udoka isn't exactly a model interviewee, either.
Smith's dialogue about the "better team" is an interesting one in light of the watered-down rosters of both squads in this series. LA has been without its two most potent offensive weapons in Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves (with AR expected to return for Game 5), while Houston has been without its primary scoring option, Kevin Durant, for every game except Game 2.
With the Rockets growing in confidence, the Lakers must win Game 5
The Lakers began to suffer from the absence of their star playmakers and ball-handlers in Game 4, as LA's turnover problem became particularly acute and ruined their chances for a sweep. Houston, meanwhile, didn't miss KD, and it's clear that they're a more difficult opponent without an injured Durant on the floor.
Operating nowhere close to 100 percent, KD takes away from the Rockets' athleticism and youthful physicality that are capable of tiring out the Lakers. Smith is part of that movement, and his play was already doing enough talking. There was no need to come out and write a check that might end up bouncing.
On the other hand, if the Lakers fail to close the door on this series in Game 5, Smith's comments will be given even more consideration. If LA finds itself with a 3-2 lead headed back to Houston for a Game 6, the series momentum will have officially shifted in the Rockets' favor. Smith either just gave the Lakers ammunition to help destroy Houston, or he foreshadowed a miraculous 7-game series that none of us saw coming a few days ago.
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