Pts. Opp. Year Score

40 Dallas 2005 116-76

40 L.A. 2009 118-78

25 Seattle 1993 120-95

24 Phoenix 1995 118-94

23 Boston 1981 94-71

23 Seattle 1996 108-75

TODAY'S GAME

Game 5

Mavericks at Nuggets 8 p.m., TNT Denver leads 3-1

TUESDAY'S SCORE

Game 5

Celtics 92, Magic 88 Boston leads 3-2

Conference semifinals

GAME 1

Rockets 100

Lakers 92

GAME 2

Rockets 98

Lakers 111

GAME 3

Lakers 108

Rockets 94

GAME 4

Lakers 87

Rockets 99

GAME 5

Lakers 118 L.A. LEADS 3-2

Rockets 78

GAME 6

Thursday

at Toyota Center

8:30 p.m.

TV/radio: ESPN; 610 AM, 850 AM (Spanish)

GAME 7 *

Sunday

at Los Angeles

TBD

TV/radio: TBD; 610 AM, 850 AM (Spanish)

LOS ANGELES - The pendulum swung back the other way and hit the Rockets with the force of a jackhammer.

They went from overachieving to overmatched and from dominant to destroyed. After a wonderful afternoon in which the Rockets could do no wrong at Toyota Center, they suffered through a wretched night in which nothing went right.

The Lakers, stunned when the Rockets led by 29 on Sunday to even the series, pounded the Rockets 118-78 on Tuesday to match the worst Rockets loss in their playoff history and send the Western Conference semifinals back to Toyota Center with Los Angeles leading 3-2.

The Rockets' checklist, the one that covered all the areas they had to master to stun the Lakers in Game 4, was demolished, crumpled and tossed toward a trash can, where it no doubt clanged away.

The Rockets committed turnovers, missed 3s, were beaten on the boards and did not come close to getting back defensively in transition, all areas they had conquered in their Game 4 victory at Toyota Center.

That did not leave much to do well, and not nearly enough to avoid the rout.

As the Rockets expected, the Lakers came out to make amends. But much of the Rockets' problems were of their own making.

They faded in the first quarter and crumbled in the second. By the end of the third quarter, they stopped playing, as if they had boarded the charter and headed to Game 6 with nothing left to do in Game 5.

Cakewalk for L.A.

The Lakers ended the quarter with Trevor Ariza easily stealing a Brian Cook pass and taking it for a reverse that corkscrewed its way around the rim and in. He added an uncontested layup as the Rockets watched the Lakers go up 94-54.

The Lakers' starters were through for the night, led by Kobe Bryant's 26 points, with Pau Gasol adding 16 points and 12 rebounds.

The Rockets' starters combined to make just 17 of 49 shots, with only Chuck Hayes (3-of-6) coming close to 50-percent shooting.

By then, the Rockets were making just 30.3 percent of their shots, just 13.6 of their 3s and had been so thoroughly outplayed, it seemed like an accomplishment when they reduced the lead to fewer than 30 points midway through the fourth quarter.

Until then, the Rockets' only solid stretch came in the first six minutes of the game.

Stat doesn't lie

With the team that led after the first quarter winning all 10 previous Rockets playoff games, the Rockets made a rapid start a top priority and actually mustered their best moments. They made six of nine shots to start the game, leading by seven before they were blown out.

The Lakers rolled through a 15-2 run to take over the game. After a Luis Scola drive stopped that run, the Lakers tore through a 16-0 run to end the first quarter and start the second, driving the lead to 19 less than two minutes into the second.

Though the Rockets were far from playing well, they began pressing with each missed shot until they made things much worse.

In Game 2, when the Lakers delivered a similar early charge, the Rockets rallied back with the bench in the second quarter.

On Tuesday, the bench crashed. And when the starters returned, the Rockets imploded in a rush of turnovers and missed 3-pointers.

The Rockets repeatedly forced no-chance passes that led to turnovers and quick Lakers buckets on the other end. The Rockets made just 18.2 percent of their shots in the second quarter, including just one of nine 3-pointers.

Duo fizzles

Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks, who combined for 57 points in Game 3, made just four of 16 shots in the first half, finishing 6-for-18 between them and just 1-for-7 from the 3-point arc. Artest made his first two shots of the game, then made just two of his next 13, adding four turnovers.

The Rockets trailed by 19 after a quarter, by 25 at the half and 40 heading into the fourth quarter.

The only challenge left was to see if they could do better than the worst they had ever had in the playoffs. They could not, but unlike that Dallas rout to end the 2004-05 first-round series, the Rockets will have a chance to see if the pendulum is still swinging.

jonathan.feigen@chron.com