Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Rajon Rondo (left) drives against Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) during the first half of game three in the second round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs at AdventHealth Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Reuters: LeBron James scored a team-high 36 points and became the all-time leader in NBA postseason wins as the Los Angeles Lakers claimed a 112-102 victory over the Houston Rockets in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals on Tuesday near Orlando.
The Lakers will take a 2-1 lead into Game 4 of the best-of-seven series on Thursday.
Los Angeles’ Anthony Davis added 26 points and a game-high 15 rebounds, and Rajon Rondo keyed a fourth-quarter run after the teams entered the final period tied.
James earned his 162nd career playoff victory, topping the mark set by Derek Fisher.
“It says that I’ve played with a lot of great teams,” James said postgame on TNT. “It says that I’ve played with a lot of great teammates and some great coaches, in Cleveland, in Miami and now here in Los Angeles. ...
“It doesn’t happen without the supporting cast. It’s why I’m able to sit here with this achievement, but it’s all about the three organizations I’ve been with, the Cavs, the Heat and now the Lakers, because without them, I wouldn’t be in this position.”
James scored 29 points in the first half, his season high for any half, to keep the Lakers afloat before dominating the action with four blocks in the third quarter. Rondo, meanwhile, led the charge early in the fourth period by scoring the last eight points during a 10-0 run that produced a 94-85 advantage. Rondo finished with 21 points and nine assists in 30 minutes off the bench.
The Lakers ultimately finished with a 56-46 advantage on paint points and outrebounded the Rockets 43-30 while shooting a robust 55.1 percent from the floor. Houston sank 46.9 percent of its field-goal attempts.
Heat oust top-seeded Bucks from playoffs,
Jimmy Butler totaled 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and the fifth-seeded Miami Heat used stingy defense to knock the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks out of the playoffs with a 103-94 Game 5 victory Tuesday night to win its Eastern Conference semifinal series 4-1 at ESPN's Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando.
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, the 2019-20 NBA Defensive Player of the Year and favorite to repeat as league MVP, did not play Tuesday after aggravating his sprained right ankle in the first half of Sunday's Game 4.
Miami awaits the winner of the other Eastern Conference semifinal series between second-seeded Toronto and third-seeded Boston. The Celtics leads 3-2 ahead of Wednesday's Game 6.
