That’ll do it. The Los Angeles Lakers are moving on in the playoffs, and the Houston Rockets are heading home. With a dominant win on the road, LA wraps up the series in six games after jumping out to a convincing 3-0 series lead. With a matchup that appeared to be too much for his ball club at the time, LeBron James led his team to another first-round win. Let’s recap the series and what the outcome means for both teams!
Lakers’ Defeat Rockets 4-2
Entering this series, the NBA world was salivating for this matchup specifically. With LeBron James and Kevin Durant in their 23rd and 18th year, this might have been the last time these two all-time great players face off in the postseason. It broke hours before Game 1 that KD would miss the first game after diving for a loose ball in practice.
LA would take Game 1 comfortably behind a Luke Kennard 27-point explosion. In Game 2, Durant would suit up and look to even the series, but heading back to H-Town. That effort would be in vain, as the Lakers forced him into 9 turnovers, 4 in the 4th quarter, which led to another win as Kennard and Marcus Smart combined for 48 points.
Game 3 was where the series should have flipped for the Rockets. The Lakers began the game with a 15-point lead in the second quarter, but Houston stuck around and chipped into the lead until a 4th quarter explosion. Alperen Sengun took the game over, scoring 12 of his 33 points on the night in the final frame. After taking a 101-95 lead, the lack of experience cost this game.
Jabari Smith Jr. would turn the ball over instead of dribbling the ball up the court, and then Smart was fouled while taking a three-pointer. Smart would sink all three free throws, then LBJ would force a Reed Sheppard turnover, then hit the game-tying three with 13.6 seconds left to force overtime. The Lakers would carry the momentum into overtime and take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
The Rockets would dominate Game 4 and come back from down 11 early in Game 5 to force another game back in H-Town. Last night’s Game 6 was as bad a closeout game at home as it comes. Unless you’re the Hawks against the Knicks. The Lakers dominated the first half 49-31 and were up 29 with two minutes left in the game. LeBron was excellent with 28 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists in the closeout game.
What Next for the Lakers?
They are running into the biggest buzzsaw in the NBA, the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC has been resting since April 27th, when they completed the sweep of the Phoenix Suns. On the bright side, Austin Reaves returned in the tail end of the series and looked somewhat like himself in Game 6, efficiency-wise. Deandre Ayton was impressive in the last three games of the series, averaging 14.6 ppg and 14.3 rpg. That can be something to build on for his confidence. That series begins Tuesday night.
Where Do the Rockets Go?
This season had so much promise. The trade for Kevin Durant in the offseason was meant to solve their half-court issues and help them contend now. Now, their team was never fully healthy, with Fred VanVleet missing the entire year with a torn ACL, and their young core not meshing fully with KD.
Lastly, Ime Udoka got out-coached by JJ Reddick. This organization needs to take a serious look in the mirror at what they want to be moving forward, because you can’t lose a series where you have five of the six best players between both teams.
Final Thoughts
I had so much belief in the addition of KD to this Houston team, and they fell short. Now the Lakers have a snowball’s chance in hell against the top-seed in the West without Luka Doncic, but crazier things have happened. What were your takeaways from this series? Should the Rockets run it back, or do you believe they need to make changes?
As always, thank you so much for checking out my recap and thoughts on the Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Houston Rockets 4-2! Be sure to check out our other amazing content here at New Leaf News! We hope you’re enjoying your day and look forward to seeing you again soon.
