Without Kevin Durant, the Houston Rockets are now 0-3 in the series, despite being favorites. Head coach Ime Udoka was on the sidelines when he saw his team give away a six-point lead in under 30 seconds. In fact, he put the entire team on notice as they failed to exercise the home court advantage.

“Horrendous mistakes, I don’t know if you want to say youth, scared of the moment, or whatever type case, but you have a six-point lead with 20 or 30 seconds to go, get a rebound, and just have to hold the ball and get fouled,” said Udoka to the media, and his message for his team was rather blunt. “You know, grow up and you’re not that young anymore. You’ve been to the playoffs once, and we watched every situation.”

Ime Udoka called a “terrible foul” on Marcus Smart with 25.4 seconds left and described the other two mistakes. Then he would question guard Reed Sheppard, who then got the ball, attempting to move up the court with around 20 seconds left when James forced him to turn over the ball. Finally, LeBron James then made a three-pointer to tie the game with 13.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Then the Rockets had a chance to take the lead after that, but Sengun’s 7-footer was off. Apparently, it was not the play that was “drawn up.” So, the head coach was frustrated with his team’s lack of control in the clutch.

It’s not a new thing for the head coach or for the Rockets. They are 22-24 now in clutch games this season, which is the tenth worst in the league. Season-long, they have choked under pressure, and tonight was no different. Analysts like Brett Siegel did not appreciate Ime Udoka’s stern statement towards his team. “Throwing your team under the bus after this loss is a horrible look.” Similarly, many Rockets fans in replies fault Udoka for lacking accountability and question his decision to insert Jaesean Tate in crunch time, viewing the comments as shifting blame from coaching.

A further stat about tonight’s choking will further highlight how truly bad it was to lose Game 3 to the Lakers. Over the last 29 years in the NBA Playoffs, teams were 1713-1 when leading by six or more points in the final 30 seconds of regulation. After Friday, Houston becomes just the second team in that span to lose in that situation, joining the 2024 Knicks, per Keerthika Uthayakumar. Plenty to learn for the Rockets as they need to win the do-or-die game.

Alperen Sengun takes accountability amid Ime Udoka’s stinging words

Sengun recorded a 33-point, 16-rebound double-double in Toyota Center, but said, “It wasn’t enough.” The 23-year-old Turkish center was seen waving his arms for the ball during the play where Reed Sheppard had that critical turnover. But Sengun defended his teammate. “It happens. I guess he couldn’t see me. He was trying to beat a double-team,” he explained. Further, he spoke about using this loss as a learning curve and watching the films in order to avoid a Game 4 defeat.

“We watched the last possessions. The two turnovers, the two threes, and the lost ball I was going for. We are going to watch it, and we are going to learn and grow together.” This echoes the locker room’s commitment, and maybe this was expected from the head coach. Now, Ime Udoka would be hopeful that his fiery words actually help his teammate make a comeback.

Otherwise, the season of promise, which began by trading Kevin Durant, seeing Sengun earn his first All-Star selection, could end in an unceremonious fashion at home.