LeBron James, Marcus Smart shatter NBA Playoffs records in Lakers vs. Rockets Game 3 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Los Angeles Lakers are a win away from advancing to the second-round and bouncing the Houston Rockets off the NBA Playoffs. Coach JJ Redick trusted two players the most in their Game 3 win: LeBron James and Marcus Smart. Both of them delivered big time minutes, broke postseason records, and pulled off the win. What feats did they grab exactly?
LeBron James was the main reason why the Lakers got the 3-0 series lead. Coach JJ Redick played him for 45 minutes despite being 41 years old. The King being on the court for such a long time paid dividends, especially because the Lakers did not have Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
James knocked down 10 of his 22 shots from the field while going 44.4% from three-point range to score a team-high 29 points. He also grabbed 13 assists, dropped six assists, had three steals, and a block to fill the stat sheet.
With this, James now has the most 20-point and 10-rebound games in NBA Playoffs history after turning 40 years old. James has four of those games. The person he usurped? It was none other than Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who recorded those numbers thrice in the NBA Playoffs, per StatMuse.
Meanwhile, Marcus Smart was the player that the Lakers needed in the clutch to go up 3-0 over the Rockets. Coach Redick played him for 39 minutes and he was blazing right after the tip up to the final buzzer. Smart recorded 21 points while going 55.5% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. He also ran the Lakers offense well and got 10 assists. After all of that, these were still not the highlight of his Game 3 NBA Playoffs performance.
Smart was a menace who sucked the life out of the Rockets on the defensive side. He recorded an insane five steals and two blocks to ensure that the Lakers won in overtime. He becomes the first player with a 20-point, 10-assist, 5-steal, and 2-block NBA Playoffs game since 1991. The last guy who did it was Michael Jordan for the Chicago Bulls.
The Rockets had a 97% win probability with 40 seconds left in regulation. It was thanks to the historic NBA Playoffs feats of these two that they still managed to go up 3-0.