LeBron James' Dominance Leads Lakers to Game 3 Win vs. James Harden, Rockets

The Los Angeles Lakers took a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference second-round playoff series Tuesday with a 112-102 win over the Houston Rockets.

Los Angeles outscored Houston 30-20 in the fourth quarter en route to shooting 55.1 percent from the field on the evening. The Lakers also out-rebounded the Rockets 43-30.

LeBron James, who posted 36 points, seven rebounds and five assists, passed ex-NBA point guard Derek Fisher for the most postseason wins all-time.

The Lakers have won two straight against Houston after dropping Game 1 by a 112-97 score.

Notable Performances

Lakers F/C Anthony Davis: 26 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists

Lakers G/F LeBron James: 36 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists

Lakers G Rajon Rondo: 21 points, 9 rebounds

Rockets G James Harden: 33 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists

Rockets G Russell Westbrook: 30 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists

Rockets F/C Jeff Green: 16 points

Playoff Rondo Makes an Appearance

Rajon Rondo has been the key to the Lakers' revival after an ugly Game 1 loss to Houston.

It's been a pleasant surprise for L.A. after Rondo missed the entirety of the seeding games and the first round of the NBA playoffs because of injury, but to see him have such a big impact on the course of the series is something else.

Kelly Iko of The Athletic provided his take:

Rondo was sensational all night, posting 21 points and nine assists and serving as the complementary piece that superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis need to ease the nightly playoff burden in order to take the Lakers' first championship in 10 years:

Rondo and Davis connected well all night, with this first-quarter pass serving as one example:

The two connected again late in the first half:

Rondo saved his best for the fourth quarter, though, as Lakers reporter Mike Trudell described one excellent sequence:

Rondo finished Game 2 with 10 points, nine dimes and five steals in a 117-109 win. He's been excellent for the past two games, and one can make the case that L.A. loses one (or both) of its last two games against Houston without those efforts.

But Rondo came through in the clutch, and the Lakers are in much better shape than they could have been because of him.

Rockets Offense Has No Answers After Halftime

The Rockets went into halftime up 64-61 in a game that looked like it would be a barnburner, but the second half was anything but as the team struggled to put up half of their first-half point amount in a 10-point loss.

Houston didn't score more than 20 points in either of its second-half quarters, and now the Lakers are halfway to the Western Conference Semifinals thanks to their suffocating defense.

L.A. did a great job clamping down on Harden, holding him to just seven second-half shot attempts.

The Rockets scored just 10 points in the first 9:31 of the fourth quarter. They had 10 more in the game's final minutes, but by that point, the Lakers had the game well in hand.

At this point, the Rockets' offensive struggles, especially in the fourth quarter, have to be concerning. As Ben DuBose of Rockets Wire noted, this is a trend:

The Lakers deserve credit for their efforts, but the Rockets are capable of playing much better offense against L.A., which has been exhibited earlier in this series in their 15-point win.

They also cruised by the Lakers in the seeding-game portion of the schedule, making their recent late-game struggles against L.A. all the more concerning.

The Rockets can certainly get it going in a hurry, but the problem is that Houston doesn't have too much time to recapture that past glory with its back now against the wall down 2-1.

What's Next?

Game 4 will take place Thursday, and Game 5 will follow Saturday.