Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard fined after Lakers' Game 4 loss

· Yahoo Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers experienced quite a bit of frustration when they failed to sweep the Houston Rockets in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series on Sunday. They started to fall behind in the second quarter amidst a bundle of turnovers, and the game was virtually out of reach by the middle of the third quarter.

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That is when the Lakers lost their cool a bit. Center Deandre Ayton elbowed Rockets star center Alperen Sengun in the head and was called for a flagrant 2 foul, which resulted in him being ejected. Near the end of the game, Lakers rookie Adou Thiero and Rockets guard Aaron Holiday were also ejected following a minor dust-up.

Right after L.A.'s 115-96 loss, emotions boiled over again, and Los Angeles starting guards Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard had some words for the officials working the game. The NBA has fined both as a result — Smart has been fined $35,000, and Kennard will owe $25,000.

Smart and Kennard were such big keys to the Lakers getting out to a 3-0 series lead, but both struggled on Sunday. They shot 3-of-8 from the field apiece, and they missed a combined five 3-point attempts. Smart did contribute five assists, three steals and three blocks, but he had four turnovers in 31 minutes. As a team, the Lakers had 24 turnovers, which led to 30 points off turnovers for Houston.

They will have another chance to end this series on Wednesday in Game 5, which will take place back in the Southland at Crypto.com Arena.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard fined after Lakers' Game 4 loss

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