You at least cannot accuse Jabari Smith Jr. of frontrunning.
The Houston Rockets forward Smith spoke with reporters on Tuesday before Wednesday’s Game 5 against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif. Houston is currently facing elimination in the first-round series as they trail the Lakers 3-1.
During his remarks, Smith took a shot at the Lakers. Smith said that the Rockets were “obviously” the better team than the Lakers despite being down in the series.
“We’re obviously the better team, I feel like,” said Smith, per Rockets analyst Adam Wexler.
“I just feel like from top to bottom, you could say it’s an opinion, you could say I’m biased, but I just think we’re the better team,” Smith continued.
While the Rockets did win Game 4 over the Lakers by a convincing 115-96 final score, there is not a lot of evidence to back up Smith’s claim right now. The Lakers had the better overall record and also won two out of three head-to-head matchups against the Rockets during the regular season. Now the Lakers have won three out of four playoff games against the Rockets as well, putting Houston at the brink of elimination.
That said, the first-round series would have been a lot more competitive if not for a disastrous late choke job by the Rockets in Game 3. Thus, Smith is clearly clinging onto hope that his team can somehow become the very first one in NBA history to rally from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series.
