Ime Udoka's Breakdown of Season Ending in First Round and Look Ahead to Future

The Houston Rockets’ season came to an earlier-than-expected ending in the first round of the NBA Playoffs to an injured Los Angeles Lakers squad. This was supposed to be the better matchup, and the Rockets were favored, but it was a disappointing effort as Houston went down in six games.

While the Rockets were able to force a Game 6 after going down 3-0, the season-ending loss at Toyota Center was a shockingly poor performance on the offensive end with just 78 points scored. Rockets coach Ime Udoka has gotten strong criticism throughout this past season, and while he got some credit as the team fought back, the Rockets went back to their old ways on offense.

Udoka’s press conference after Game 6 was an interesting one, and he fielded a wide variety of questions about the performance and what lies ahead. It’s reported that Udoka’s job is indeed safe at the moment, and he’ll be tasked with getting the Rockets to further improve for 2026-27.

Udoka Explains the Issues and More

Apr 26, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets Head Coach Ime Udoka reacts during the third quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers during game four of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

“It’s tough when a lot of guys are struggling like that, and we need someone to step up there. One or two guys to stem the tide,” Udoka said.

Shooting was obviously the biggest issue for the Rockets, and they lacked a consistent shotmaker without Kevin Durant on the floor. The Rockets had a miserable shooting night at just 35 percent overall and 18 percent from three (5/28).

Houston missed Durant on that night, given he can provide that kind of shot-making. Either way, Udoka, the Rockets, and their fans all think this was a winnable series even without KD.

“Myself and the coaches said these are the kind of nights you have him for when other guys are going through it. Throughout the season, he carries us on poor shooting nights,” Udoka said.

The 48-year-old coach explained what the problem was in terms of offense in Game 6 and the challenges the Lakers presented to them. It was a mix of a new defense and the Rockets not executing the way they had in the last two games.

“They switched a little bit more, and we didn’t create any advantages behind it. We didn’t offensive rebound or play with pace, all the things we did in the last two games,” Udoka said. “Because of how they switched, our guards never got loose against their bigs, and we’ve got to get to more off-ball actions and create more advantages.”

The poor shooting has been seen plenty of times this year from the Rockets. What was even more surprising was the rebounding. The Rockets got outrebounded 54-45 and lost the offensive glass 15-8. Given Houston was the best rebounding team in the NBA coming in against a smaller Lakers team, this was a shock.

Udoka was honestly unsure what happened on the boards.

“Give them credit, it was obviously a vocal point for them, and they did a good job there,” Udoka said.

His overall outlook of the season and series had some positives, but ultimately, everyone in the Rockets organization expected to go farther this season.

“Proud of them for fighting back down 3-0. Minus some injury luck, a lot of guys showed some tremendous growth this year, even in this playoff series alone. Ultimately, we didn’t meet our expectations,” Udoka said.

The Rockets have now lost back-to-back series in the first round, and both teams faced big series deficits. The Rockets were down 3-1 to the Golden State Warriors last season before forcing Game 7 and were down 3-0 this season.

“It feels like two years in a row in the playoffs getting behind the eight ball a bit. Our expectations were much higher. We had injuries, but even with that, we feel we could’ve had a better season in general,” Udoka said.

The injuries definitely derailed the Rockets’ season. When you lose the starting point guard in Fred VanVleet, backup center in Steven Adams, and then your main scorer in Durant, it becomes very difficult. But they still had what they needed to beat the Lakers without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves for four games.

The Rockets had more forward depth, and the injuries hurt them in a critical area.

“We could probably absorb a wing better with our depth there. Just lost two really unique guys, but with that being said, we had expectations to move on and finish better than we did,” Udoka said.

He also touched on the future of the team and how they want to construct it next season. The Rockets have glaring needs on the offensive end.

“There are areas of improvement, no doubt, and it’s not like we’re basing everything on them (VanVleet, Adams) coming back. Lack of shooting, back-up point guard. We’ll have some very interesting conversations on having a little more mix instead of some duplicates out there,” Udoka said.

Udoka also spoke on the growth that second-year guard Reed Sheppard had throughout the year with his first season of significant minutes. He struggled mightily in Game 6 and still has to learn how to make adjustments against different defenses. Teams use different schemes against Sheppard, and he, in turn, needs to understand how to attack and make adjustments.

Udoka took a different mindset about the reason for the stagnant offense. While he hasn’t shied away from calling out his players publicly in the past, he took accountability all around.

“We all have to do this together. On me to get them into those sets and on them to run them and do the things we worked on,” Udoka said.

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