LOS ANGELES — Entering the final two weeks of the season, Lakers coach JJ Redick emphasized the importance of his team building its “playoff mentality.”
Embracing the mental, physical and emotional toll that’s required to be successful once the postseason arrives.
Playing with the attention to detail to the game plan that’s required to beat good-to-great teams four times in a seven-game series.
On Monday night, that meant an emphasis on defensive rebounding against a Houston Rockets team that entered the matchup leading the league in second-chance points. The Lakers also needed to take care of the ball against an opponent that relies heavily on transition opportunities to make up for its subpar half-court offense.
The Lakers took care of business in both areas, leading to a 104-98 victory in the first of two crucial matchups in 12 days between teams that are among those battling for home-court advantage in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
“They emptied the tank – they emptied the tank on the defensive end,” Redick said. “It was fantastic.”
Luka Doncic led the Lakers (46-29) with 20 points, nine assists and six rebounds despite a rough shooting night (6 for 16 overall, 1 for 7 from 3-point range) and a sore elbow.
Gabe Vincent (20 points, four rebounds, six 3-pointers) and Dorian Finney-Smith (20 points, six rebounds, three assists, six 3-pointers) combined for 40 of the Lakers’ 46 bench points as they handed the Rockets just their second loss in the past 14 games.
LeBron James (16 points, eight rebounds, four assists) and Austin Reaves (12 points, eight rebounds, three assists) had relatively quieter games.
Most of Finney-Smith’s 3-pointers came out of pick-and-pops with Doncic when Alperen Sengun or Steven Adams were guarding Finney-Smith, with the Lakers targeting the Rockets’ slow-footed big men to defend in space.
“If the big is guarding me and Rui [Hachimura], just put him in action … [Monday] they were guarding me, so I got the shots,” Finney-Smith said. “Last time we played them, they were guarding Rui and Rui got the shots. So, it depends on whatever the big is going to guard.”
Finney-Smith’s point total, 3-pointers attempted (11) and 3-pointers made were all season-highs.
“He should’ve shot 14 [3-pointers],” Redick quipped. “His teammates have a ton of confidence in him. We as a coaching staff have a ton of confidence. He needs gentle reminders sometimes to keep shooting. And particularly, the type of shots that he gets, whether that’s a corner 3 or a pick-and-pop versus a five, they’re open shots. We’re not going to get a better shot. He has to be willing to unload the clip every night.”
Monday was the first time since Jan. 3, 2024 that Finney-Smith attempted at least 10 3-point shots in a game, which he did just twice in 114 games with the Brooklyn Nets from February 2023 until he was traded to the Lakers in December.
“I just told him if he doesn’t want to shoot it, I’ll shoot it,” Doncic quipped about Finney-Smith, with the two also being teammates with the Dallas Mavericks for 4½ seasons (2018-23) with the Dallas Mavericks. “He could have shot more.”
Finney-Smith appreciates the encouragement.
“I always want to make the right read,” he said. “So if I see someone running at me, I am going to make the swing-swing. Like, ‘Bro, you’re the hot player, shoot the ball.’ So it feels good when guys like [Doncic] and Bron are telling me to shoot. Because it could be the other way around.”
Hachimura (seven points on 3-of-10 shooting) redeemed airballing a late 3-point attempt by stealing Dillon Brooks’ pass to Sengun in the paint with 46 seconds left.
James turned the ball over on the Lakers’ ensuing possession, leading to Brooks splitting a pair of free throws to cut Houston’s deficit to 100-98 with 20.1 seconds left.
James made a pair of free throws for a four-point lead with 11.1 seconds left. He had a weakside block against Sengun on a dunk attempt with eight seconds left before Brooks missed a 3-point attempt with five seconds left. Finney-Smith grabbed the rebound and made a pair of free throws with the Rockets intentionally fouling to put the game out of reach.
Amen Thompson led the Rockets (49-27) with 20 points, five rebounds and four assists. Brooks had 16 points but on 5-of-14 shooting. Sengun finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists, with the Lakers effectively limiting his touches in the first half. Rockets leading scorer Jalen Green (21.6 ppg) had only nine points on 4-of-13 shooting.
In a game that was nearly the opposite of Saturday’s high-scoring road victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, the Lakers and Rockets lacked offensive rhythm for significant chunks of the night.
The teams combined to score 35 points in the first quarter, a quarter the Rockets led 19-16 before the Lakers scored 32 points in the second and 34 in the third to take an 82-77 lead going into the fourth. The Rockets didn’t score more than 30 points in any quarter.
“Defensively, we [were] very locked in on our game plan and what we wanted to do,” James said. “That team won 13 out 14. They were red hot. Probably by the hottest team in the NBA. And we understood that we had to be in defensively.”
Neither team led by more than eight points all night, but the Lakers nursed a small lead throughout the final 17 minutes. The Lakers, playing their 19th game in 35 days, won despite shooting 39.3% from the field (35 for 89).
Redick said the Lakers took a season-high 29 catch-and-shoot 3s, with a lot of them being uncontested, including shooting 2 for 16 on uncontested 3-point looks in the first half.
“I feel like we left a lot on the table,” he added.
The Lakers and Rockets have split the first two games of the season and play once more on April 11 at Crypto.com Arena. That game will determine the seeding tiebreaker if the two teams end the season with identical records.
With Monday’s win, the Lakers are 2½-games behind the second-seeded Rockets and one game behind the third-seeded Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference. They gave themselves a larger cushion as the No. 4 seed, now two games ahead of the No. 5 Memphis Grizzlies, who fell to the Boston Celtics on Monday. The Lakers are 2½ games ahead of the sixth-place Golden State Warriors, who the Lakers host on Thursday, and three games ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Clippers.
“It’s so close,” James said. “People are jumping each other, falling behind, whatever the case may be. For us, obviously, our mission is to lock in a playoff spot. We don’t want to have to play in the Play-In. So we understand what’s at stake.”
ACHY ELBOW
Doncic said his elbow felt “terrible” after he landed on it several times during the game, but added that he’ll be fine for Thursday’s game against the Warriors.