A 6-point lead, 30 seconds left, and a Rockets unraveling that flipped Game 3

HOUSTON (AP) — Leading by six with under 30 seconds to go, the Houston Rockets were on the verge of their first victory against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Instead, they fell apart and eventually lost 112-108 in overtime on Friday night and are on the brink of elimination in their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

“Horrendous mistakes,” coach Ime Udoka said. “I don’t know if you want to say youth or scared of the moment, or whatever the case.”

Even with Kevin Durant out for a second game in this series — this time with a sprained ankle after missing Game 1 with a knee injury — the Rockets were in position to close out the game after LeBron James had consecutive turnovers that Houston turned into a 101-95 lead.

It was then that everything went wrong for the Rockets. Marcus Smart was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 25 seconds to go in the fourth after a Houston turnover and made all three free throws to get the Lakers within three.

James then stole the ball from Reed Sheppard and his 3-pointer tied it at 101-all with 13 seconds to go in the fourth.

“It was a stupid turnover,” Sheppard said. “(Alperen Sengun’s) man came up. I should have hit Alpie right over halfcourt and just made the simple play. I tried to split the two defenders.”

The Rockets had a chance to take the lead after that, but Sengun’s 7-footer was off. James grabbed the rebound and called a timeout. He caught the inbounds pass and had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but his 3-point attempt bounced off the rim to send it to OT.

Houston struggled at times to close out games in the fourth quarter during the season and the problem continued Friday night.

“It’s obviously a weakness of ours to close out and finish,” Udoka said. “The amount of mistakes or the type of mistakes are egregious and you can’t have those.”

This is the second straight playoff trip for the Rockets after they returned last season for the first time since 2020. They were eliminated in the first round in seven games by Golden State.

With that playoff experience under their belts, Udoka doesn’t see any excuse for their collapse Friday night and had a message for his team going forward.

“Grow up,” he said he told them. “You’re not that young anymore.”

Sengun, who led the Rockets with 33 points and 16 rebounds Friday night, said they must find a way to move on as they prepare for Game 4 on Sunday night in Houston.

“We’ll be upset tonight. That’s for sure,” he said. “But we’ve got to get over it. Nobody’s giving up.”

It's unclear if Durant will return Sunday to help them stave off elimination.

“Up in the air,” Udoka said. “I think we made some progress in the last few days, but we’ll see how that (goes) with only one day in between.”

Udoka made the Rockets watch the last 30 seconds of regulation immediately after the game to try and help his players learn from their mistakes. Then he told them to start looking forward.

“Now you've got to go get one on Sunday and don’t let this one beat you twice,” he said.

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Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson (1) looks to drive around Los Angeles Lakers guard Marcus Smart (36) who reaches in during the first half of Game 3 in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Friday April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, left, immediately signals for a timeout after winning a rebound from Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson (1) during the second half of Game 3 in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Friday April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Los Angeles Lakers guard Luke Kennard, left, fouls Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun, right, as he drives to the basket during the second half of Game 3 in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Friday April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) tips the ball inbounds in front of Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun, left, during the second half of Game 3 in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series Friday April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka yells from the bench to players during the first half of Game 3 in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series against the Los Angeles Lakers Friday April 24, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — For the first time in two decades, Palestinians in battle-scarred Gaza are voting in local elections Saturday.

And in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, voters are casting ballots for the first time since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Turnout may reflect the level of public trust in a broader system led by aging leaders in the West Bank and as Gaza prepares for an anticipated transition from Hamas rule.

The vote in the West Bank will determine the makeup of the local councils overseeing water, roads and electricity. The vote in a single city in Gaza, on the other hand, is largely symbolic, with officials calling it a “pilot.”

Though it has not held presidential or legislative elections since 2006, the Palestinian Authority has promoted the local races following reforms it enacted last year after demands from international backers.

Under the slogan “We Stay,” the Ramallah-based Central Election Commission has campaigned to encourage participation among the nearly 70,000 voters eligible in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah and 1 million in the West Bank.

Voting "reflects the will if the Palestinian people to stay on their land and develop their country," its spokesperson Fareed Taamallah said.

Polls opened early Saturday morning with a steady stream of voters in the West Bank. In the village of Deir Ibzi, near Ramallah, some parents brought their children to watch as election workers helped voters locate their names and voter IDs. While voting, each voter dips their finger in blue ink to show they have voted and avoid fraud.

With much of Gaza decimated by more than two years of war, the commission chose to hold its first vote in Deir al-Balah, which has been damaged by airstrikes but was one of the few areas spared an Israeli ground invasion. It had to improvise because it was unable to conduct traditional voter registration.

“The main idea is to link the West Bank and Gaza politically as one system,” Taamallah said. Palestinians see uniting the two under one government as integral to any path to future statehood.

The commission has not coordinated directly with either Israel or Hamas ahead of the Deir al-Balah vote and has not been able to send materials like ballot paper, ballot boxes or ink into Gaza, he added. COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees humanitarian affairs in Gaza, did not respond to questions about whether it would allow election materials in.

Though Palestinian voter turnout has gradually decreased, it has been relatively high in past local elections by regional standards, according to commission figures, averaging between 50% and 60%. By comparison, turnout in recent local elections in Lebanon and Tunisia was under 40% and 12%, respectively.

Ninety-year-old President Mahmoud Abbas signed a decree last year overhauling the electoral system in line with some demands of Western donors. The reforms allow voting for individuals rather than slates, lowered the eligibility age to run and raised quotas for women candidates.

In January, another Abbas decree required candidates to accept the program of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the group that leads the Palestinian Authority. The program calls for the recognition of Israel and renouncing armed struggle, effectively sidelining Hamas and other factions.

Slates in major cities are dominated by Fatah, the faction that leads the Palestinian Authority, and independents, some with ties to other factions. However, it’s the first time in six local elections that no other faction has officially put forward its own slate — an absence that analysts say reflects political disillusionment under Abbas and the authority’s aging leadership.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the authority exercises limited autonomy, and local councils oversee services from trash collection to building permits. Votes will be held in villages in what's known as “Area C” under Israeli military control as well as in municipalities that have been occupied by Israel's military since it launched a ground invasion in the northern West Bank last year.

Campaign posters have been plastered across cities, though many — including Ramallah and Nablus — will not hold elections because too few candidates or slates registered.

The Palestinian Authority’s power has withered amid years without peace negotiations with Israel and the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. But it sees local elections as a low-risk way to demonstrate progress on reforms, said Aref Jaffal, director of the al-Marsad Arab World Democracy and Electoral Monitor.

“The PA wants to show it is on the right track on political, financial and administrative reforms, and is using local elections as a symbol of that,” he said. “With the weak legitimacy of the national government, it is seeking to bolster legitimacy through local elections.”

With the authority having little recourse to address hundreds of new military gates and settler outposts constricting movement in the West Bank, he said many councils have taken on greater importance, overseeing local health centers, schools and public services that residents once accessed elsewhere.

Hamas won parliamentary elections in 2006 and violently seized control of Gaza from the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority a year later. It did not put forth candidates for Saturday, but polling from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research shows it remains the most popular Palestinian faction in both Gaza and the West Bank.

Ramiz Alakbarov, the U.N. deputy special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, called the elections “an important opportunity for Palestinians to exercise their democratic rights during an exceptionally challenging period.”

Other international actors, however, have been largely silent on the Gaza vote, with memories still fresh of past elections fueling conflict and other avenues for governance in limbo.

Hamas controls the half of Gaza that Israeli forces withdrew from last year, including Deir al-Balah, but the coastal enclave is preparing to transition to a new governance structure under U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan.

The plan established a Board of Peace made up of international envoys and a committee of unelected Palestinian experts supposed to operate under it. Progress toward further phases, including disarming Hamas, reconstruction and a transfer of power, is stalled.

Associated Press writer Jalal Bwaitel contributed to this report from Ramallah, West Bank.

A Palestinian man votes in local elections, the first in two decades in Gaza and the first in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Al-Ubaidiya, West Bank, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

A Palestinian man votes in local elections, the first in two decades in Gaza and the first in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Al-Ubaidiya, West Bank, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

FILE - A voter prepares his ballot at a polling station during municipal elections in the West Bank city of Ramallah, March 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File)