The Houston Rockets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 99-93 in Game 5 of their first-round series, avoiding elimination for the second consecutive game and trimming Los Angeles' series lead to 3-2. The Rockets had led by five points with under a minute remaining, but lost the game due to costly turnovers by their stars,Jabari Smith Jr. and Reed Sheppard, who both finished with 12 points and six assists. Despite these mistakes, Houston's coach Ime Udoka remained confident and said his team was never worried about their ability to recover from a 3-0 series deficit. Despite this, the Rockets have outscored the Lakers 514-509 in the series, despite being down 3- 2. They have played five games and seven without Kevin Durant due to injuries.