The most telling moment of Friday’s Game 3 between theLos Angeles Lakersand Houston Rockets didn’t come in overtime. It came before the ball even went up.
The Toyota Center in downtown Houston sat half-full at tipoff, a quiet indictment of a Rockets team already down 0-2 in the series and playing without superstar Kevin Durant.
The Rockets arena is EMPTY 😭pic.twitter.com/zoDZuJ427K
Lakers players wondered out loud in the visiting locker room how the arena could be so empty for a playoff game. Maybe some fans chose to watch baseball down the street, where the New York Yankees were in town. Others simply chose not to believe in their team.
But by the end of the night, belief wasn’t the problem. Loyalty was.
Because what unfolded inside that building wasn’t just a shockingLakers win in overtime 112-108to take a commanding3-0 lead in the series. It was a full-scale takeover of an opposing arena.
Purple and gold colors bled through the lower bowl from the opening quarter. LeBron James and Luka Doncic jerseys were scattered like confetti across the crowd. And whenBronny James finished off the first ever father-to-son alley oop in NBA Playoff history, even the Rockets fans stood and cheered. That’s how undeniable greatness works.
“You could definitely hear all the Lakers fans in here tonight,” Lakers’ center Jaxson Hayes said afterward. “You could see all the purple and gold jerseys… they drowned out the Houston fans.”
Hayes detonated a one-handed lob from Luke Kennard. The crowd erupted — not for the home team, but for the show. By the fourth quarter, the lines had blurred. By the final minute, they were gone.
Jaxson Hayes catches the Kennard lob and finishes with FEROCITY 🔨pic.twitter.com/gxUsf3CliF
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
