ORLANDO, Fla. _ LeBron James had just bodied James Harden, moving little as the Houston Rockets star thumped his shoulder into James' chest, forcing him outside. Harden threw the ball to the corner, just out of a teammate's reach, and turned it over out of bounds.
Stone-faced, James walked over to the corner where Rajon Rondo was. Rockets forward Jeff Green stood between them. But rather than go around him, James lifted his arm directly in front of Green's face and Rondo reached up from the other side of Green to high-five James, their arms creating a tent over their opponent.
The two of them had played pivotal roles for the Los Angeles Lakers as they gained their first advantage in the series. With a 112-102 win over the Houston Rockets, the Lakers took a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinal at Walt Disney World.
James finished with 36 points, seven rebounds, four blocked shots and five assists. Anthony Davis finished with 26 points, 15 rebounds and six assists.
Until the rest of his team could match what he did, James kept the Lakers afloat.
He did it with his scoring and his blocked shots, with his unmatched intensity and his long-range shooting. He scored 29 points in the first half, and by the end of the third quarter, he had four blocked shots to go along with his 31 points and five assists.
The Lakers struggled with defense and turnovers in the first half, which meant that even though they made 62.2% of their shots, they trailed the Rockets 64-61. At that point, the Lakers had given up 10 turnovers for 12 points.
Points off turnovers had been a problem for the Lakers in Game 1 as well. But that was an issue they resolved in the second half Tuesday when they gave up only three more turnovers and no points off them. After giving up 64 points in the first half, they yielded only 38 in the second.
Behind their defense, their sharper offense and 15 second-half points from Rondo, the Lakers pulled ahead in the middle of the fourth quarter and took the lead in the series.
