LeBron James and the Lakers advance to challenge the Thunder in the West semis.
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The Houston Rockets made advancing to the Western Conference semifinals difficult for the Los Angeles Lakers, forcing Game 6 after the Lakers took a 3-0 series lead.
But the Lakers’ collective experience, led by LeBron James, ensured this would not become the fifth series in NBA history to reach seven games after one team led 3-0.
The fourth-seeded Lakers took control of Game 6 in the second quarter, built a 25-point lead in the third and advanced to the conference semifinals with a 98-78 victory against the fifth-seeded Rockets on Friday.
Second-year Lakers coach JJ Redick earned his first playoff series victory. “Gratitude, it’s the biggest thing,” Redick said. “It’s been my word for the entire season. Part of my existence in life is gratitude. I’m so grateful to represent the Lakers. I’m so grateful for our players. I’m so grateful for our staff. Doing this is such a collective effort. I wish people understood how many people put their heart and soul into something just to try to go win a basketball game.”
Los Angeles will play the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder for a spot in the West finals.
That series begins Tuesday in Oklahoma City.
Here are four takeaways from the Lakers’ closeout victory:
1. Win by the 3 …
In the Lakers’ two losses, they made six 3-pointers per game and shot 24.5% from that range. In their four victories, they averaged 11.8 made 3s and shot 45.2% from that distance.
Los Angeles made 12-for-28 3-pointers in Game 6, and Rui Hachimura, who scored 21 points, was 5-for-7 on 3s. James was 2-for-5, Marcus Smart 2-for-4 and Luke Kennard, Jake LaRavia and Nick Smith Jr. each made one 3.
Austin Reaves, who missed the first four games of the series with a strained oblique, returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench in Game 5. He didn’t make a 3 but scored 15 points on 7-for-14 shooting, and Deandre Ayton had seven points and 16 rebounds.
Los Angeles limited its turnovers, won the rebounding game and capitalized on Houston’s turnovers.
2. Lose by the 3
Basketball can be a complex game broken down by simple statistics. The Rockets were just 5-for-28 on 3s. Reed Sheppard was 1-for-10 and Jabari Smith Jr., 1-for-6, and the Rockets shot 35% overall.
“We thought we were taking it back (to Los Angeles) for Game 7,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “But tough night for a lot of guys. Shooting 35% and only scoring 78, you’re not going to win even if you defend the way we did.”
3. James notches another closeout victory
LeBron James finishes with 28 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists as the Lakers close out the Rockets in Game 6.
Until this series, James’ teams had never been pushed to six games after going up 3-0. James, who struggled offensively in Games 4 and 5, made sure there wasn’t a Game 7.
James outscored the Rockets 14-13 in the second quarter and finished with 28 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
In this series, James, 41, lost consecutive closeout games for the first time since 2006, but the Lakers still advanced, improving his record in closeout games to 42-15.
“For him to answer the bell again, it’s just really baffling in some ways,” Redick said. “The leadership aspect that I talked about, he just has this ability to set the tone for our entire group, and he did that again tonight, and our guys responded.”
4. What’s next for the Rockets?
The Rockets showed their youth but also growth against the Lakers, and they have a promising future. Don’t forget Durant missed five of the six games with injuries, and Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams had missed much of the season. In the games Durant didn’t play, the Rockets started five players who were 24 years old or younger.
Durant, Alperen Sengun (17 points, 11 rebounds), Smith, Amen Thompson (18 points, eight rebounds, seven assists), Sheppard, Dorian Finney-Smith, Adams and Clint Capela are under contract for next season.
VanVleet has a player option on his contract, and Tari Eason is a restricted free agent. Josh Okogie, Jae’Sean Tate, Jeff Green and Aaron Holiday are unrestricted free agents.
The Rockets do not have a first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft – Houston traded it to Oklahoma City in the 2019 Russell Westbrook-Chris Paul trade, and the Thunder forwarded the pick to Philadelphia earlier this season to acquire Jared McCain. The Rockets have the 39th and 53rd picks in the second round.
Houston defends, and will look to improve offensively next season.
“A lot of guys showed tremendous growth this year and even in this playoff series alone,” Udoka said. “Stay the course. We’ve all got steps to take, and a lot of them did that this year. But ultimately, we didn’t meet our expectations.”
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Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at jzillgitt@nba.com, find his archive here and follow him on X.