Houston Rockets – Los Angeles Lakers · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 12 May 2021

HOU122–124LAL

Is it worth watching?

Recommended

It was more exciting than 63% of NBA games since 2017

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ LAL winsHOU wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when LAL leads and falls when HOU does.

This is how the game was decided.

Talen Horton-Tucker decided it, the Los Angeles Lakers player with the most points (23, with 2 rebounds and 10 assists; +2 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Markieff Morris's (+9). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Los Angeles Lakers 124-122 Houston Rockets (May 12, 2021) was hit by Kyle Kuzma: a layup with 6.9 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Los Angeles Lakers up 123-122. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Los Angeles Lakers 124-122 Houston Rockets (May 12, 2021) was a 14-0 run by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first quarter (from 7:57 to 4:48), from 9-16 to 23-16. The Houston Rockets' best was a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter (from 2:34 to 22.9 s), from 113-121 to 122-121.

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Kyle Kuzma makes driving layup.

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

Kyle Kuzma decided this game: his points put his team ahead with 6.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 5 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Kuzma decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

12 May 2021 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401307856:664; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · HOU

Martin · Olynyk · Augustin · Tate · Brooks

Closing lineup · LAL

Horton-Tucker · Caldwell-Pope · Matthews · Kuzma · McLemore

Q1Q2Q3Q4

HOU

Khyri Thomas

37′ · -1

KJ Martin

37′ · -2

Kelly Olynyk

25′ · -5

D.J. Augustin

24′ · -3

Jae'Sean Tate

23′ · +17

Anthony Lamb

34′ · -18

Armoni Brooks

37′ · -1

Cameron Oliver

23′ · +3

LAL

Talen Horton-Tucker

37′ · +2

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

31′ · +7

Wesley Matthews

24′ · -7

Markieff Morris

23′ · +9

Andre Drummond

22′ · +9

Kyle Kuzma

32′ · +3

Ben McLemore

26′ · -1

Montrezl Harrell

26′ · -8

Alfonzo McKinnie

17′ · -1

Devontae Cacok

4′ · -3

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. HOU and LAL.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Houston Rockets

Oliver, Thomas, Brooks, Martin, and Lamb played 9.8 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 7 points.
Thomas, Martin, Tate, Augustin, and Olynyk played 9.2 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 11 points.
Thomas, Brooks, Martin, Lamb, and Olynyk played 7.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.

Los Angeles Lakers

Horton-Tucker, Matthews, Morris, Drummond, and Caldwell-Pope played 11.6 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.
Harrell, McKinnie, Kuzma, Horton-Tucker, and McLemore played 10.1 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Kuzma, Morris, Drummond, McLemore, and Caldwell-Pope played 5.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.

▸See every lineup of the game

Houston Rockets

Oliver, Thomas, Brooks, Lamb, and Tate played 6.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Brooks, Martin, Lamb, Augustin, and Olynyk played 4.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Oliver, Brooks, Lamb, Tate, and Augustin played 3.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Brooks, Martin, Tate, Augustin, and Olynyk played 2.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 8 points.
Thomas, Martin, Lamb, Augustin, and Olynyk played 1.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 12 points.
Oliver, Thomas, Brooks, Martin, and Augustin played 1.8 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.

Los Angeles Lakers

Harrell, Kuzma, Horton-Tucker, Matthews, and Caldwell-Pope played 4.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.
Kuzma, Horton-Tucker, Morris, Drummond, and Caldwell-Pope played 2.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 9 points.
Harrell, Kuzma, Matthews, Morris, and Caldwell-Pope played 2.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Harrell, McKinnie, Horton-Tucker, Matthews, and McLemore played 2.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Harrell, McKinnie, Horton-Tucker, Cacok, and McLemore played 2.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Kuzma, Horton-Tucker, Matthews, Drummond, and Caldwell-Pope played 1.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Harrell, Kuzma, Horton-Tucker, Cacok, and McLemore played 1.7 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.
Harrell, McKinnie, Kuzma, Matthews, and McLemore played 1.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.
Harrell, McKinnie, Kuzma, McLemore, and Caldwell-Pope played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Khyri Thomas covered 4.44 km, more than anyone in the game.

Talen Horton-Tucker touched the ball 88 times, a game high.
Talen Horton-Tucker made 65 passes, a game high.
Cameron Oliver defended 11 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 9.

▸See what was measured for each player

Houston Rockets

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Khyri Thomas	4.44	6.8	57	43
Armoni Brooks	4.33	6.7	51	29
KJ Martin	4.26	6.5	47	28
Anthony Lamb	4.09	6.9	51	41
Kelly Olynyk	2.98	6.7	66	44
Cameron Oliver	2.69	6.7	50	39
D.J. Augustin	2.59	6.2	45	35
Jae'Sean Tate	2.51	6.2	36	23

Los Angeles Lakers

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Talen Horton-Tucker	4.23	6.5	88	65
Kyle Kuzma	3.88	6.9	74	56
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope	3.43	6.4	37	32
Ben McLemore	3.23	7.2	29	22
Montrezl Harrell	2.96	6.4	41

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2020-21 regular season, not this game.

Houston Rockets

Jae'Sean Tate recovered 1.1 loose balls per game over his 70 games.
He ranks 16 of 364 in the league.
Kelly Olynyk drew 0.23 charges per game over his 70 games.
He ranks 19 of 364 in the league.
D.J. Augustin drew 0.08 charges per game over his 53 games.
He ranks 77 of 364 in the league.

Los Angeles Lakers

Montrezl Harrell drew 0.32 charges per game over his 68 games.
He ranks 7 of 364 in the league.
Andre Drummond recovered 1.1 loose balls per game over his 46 games.
He ranks 15 of 364 in the league.
Talen Horton-Tucker drew 0.10 charges per game over his 62 games.
He ranks 59 of 364 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Los Angeles Lakers have won 157 of their 261 games against the Houston Rockets.

157-104record of the Los Angeles Lakers · NBA 1971-72 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

2-1in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 1971-72 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

4087

21.5% of capacity

Crypto.com Arena · Los Angeles

Scoring

246

combined points

21.8 above the season average (224.2)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

24 calls reviewed3 errors admitted by the NBA

Turnover: Traveling · 00:16.4

Talen Horton-Tucker → Rockets

Horton-Tucker (LAL) moves his pivot foot after picking up his dribble in the lane.

Foul: Personal · 01:07.0

Kelly Olynyk → Kyle Kuzma

Olynyk (HOU) makes contact with the ball and the part of Kuzma's (LAL) hand that is on the ball, and dislodges it away before any incidental contact occurs.

Foul: Shooting · 01:27.4

Jae'Sean Tate → Kyle Kuzma

Kuzma (LAL) draws Tate (HOU) into the air toward him and the contact results in a foul on Tate even if contact is initiated by Kuzma.