The Houston Rockets have avoided the worst; they won’t be swept. Game 4 of their series against the Los Angeles Lakers was a stark contrast to what had transpired so far. The Rockets controlled the game from start to finish, even without Kevin Durant. The Slim Reaper watched from the sidelines, even joining in the antics as the Lakers lost their only standout performer of the night.

In the third quarter, Deandre Ayton was assessed a flagrant 2 for intentionally elbowing Alperen Sengun. He did make contact, but an ejection seemed unwarranted. Brett Siegel felt, “it didn’t look like an F2, and we’ve seen way worse be called common fouls.” But James Williams, an official who came under fire for another contentious decision during the Suns-OKC series, made the call.

But it was only Siegel and the Lakers contingent who would feel it was harsh. The Rockets fans, and even the players, celebrated it. Kevin Durant took things a step further, mocking the fans as he waved in the Lakers’ direction once the decision was made, adding salt to their wounds.

That was the moment the Lakers lost any chance of a comeback. The Houston Rockets’ defense disturbed the Lakers’ rhythm tonight. LeBron James couldn’t control anything, and the Rockets’ efficient three-point shooting made matters worse. Ayton was the only outlier, finding consistent success against Houston’s tenacity.

The former number one overall pick scored 19 points on 75% shooting. Ayton also grabbed 10 rebounds in just 25 minutes of playtime before his ejection. Aside from him, Rui Hachimura was the only other Lakers player who could comfortably score. The Rockets took everything else away and answered with a flurry.

The Houston Rockets make things interesting

No team has ever come back from a 0–3 deficit. This was just one game for the Houston Rockets. However, their execution was flawless, adding intrigue to whether they can overcome such a historic deficit. Every starter scored in double digits, and they shot 40% from beyond the arc.

With their shots going down, the good parts of this Rockets team shone through, specifically their ability to completely swallow up their opponents with physicality and chaos.

Their offensive success wasn’t the most important development in this game. The Rockets forced 23 turnovers from the Lakers. Eight of those came from LeBron James, who was held to just 10 points. Houston managed to curb the Lakers’ ball movement. They never let them settle into the game, as only three of the 13 Lakers scored in double-digits.

On the other side, the Rockets got scoring from every direction. Amen Thompson and Tari Eason combined for 43 points while Reed Sheppard found his shooting touch once again. The result was domination on both sides of the floor. Houston held the Lakers to just 96 points, blowing up their entire game plan.

The job is still far from done. Every game means survival for the Rockets. But at least they started and did so with a knockout punch not seen in this series. Although the Lakers may see Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves return soon and could play a potential closeout game at home, the Rockets showed enough intensity that they wouldn’t need to shoot as well as they did tonight to win games.

This result came down to their activity on the defensive end, forcing turnovers and scoring 30 points from those errors. It was a display of their versatility, even troubling the most experienced playoff players in the modern NBA. The chance is slim, but if the Rockets can replicate this performance again, they could do something unheard of.