HOUSTON — LeBron James knew what was at stake in this first-round playoff series and that it was on his shoulders to meet the moment and have his teammates follow his lead.
James simply elevated his play like he has so many times over his illustrious 23-year NBA career, playing with a purpose and willing the Lakers to a 98-78 win over the Houston Rockets on Friday night at the Toyota Center.
His 28 points, eight assists and seven rebounds is why the Lakers won the best-of-seven series, 4-2, over the Rockets and is why L.A. will meet the defending NBA champion Thunder on Tuesday night in Oklahoma City in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.
James and the Lakers had been on the verge of collapsing in these playoffs, their commanding 3-0 lead cut to 3-2.
But the Lakers and James let the Rockets know they were going to stay the course in Game 6 by building a 25-point lead in the third quarter.
Hachimura let James and the Lakers know he had come to play, scoring 21 points on eight-for-15 shooting and a sizzling five for seven on three-pointers. Hachimura also had six rebounds.
Austin Reaves started in Game 6 and Luke Kennard, who had started the first five playoff games and the last five regular-season games, came off the bench. Reaves did his part for the Lakers with 15 points.
Deandre Ayton had just seven points, but his 16 rebounds and defensive presence was just as powerful.
Smart was the defensive catalyst for the Lakers. He had two blocks, one in which he just raised up to swat a shot by Tari Eason in the third quarter while then falling down backwards in the process. Smart scored seven points, but it was his defense that helped the Lakers limit the Rockets to 34.2% shooting and 17.9% from three-point range.
After grabbing his last rebound with 3 minutes and 17 seconds left with the Lakers leading by 26 points, James raised his hand to come out of the game. He left with 3:07 remaining having played 37 minutes.
The Lakers built a 19-point lead in the second quarter, doing it behind James’ thrust and a strong defense that stifled the Rockets early in the frame.
James had 18 points in the first half, shooting seven for 14 from the field and two for four from three-point range that helped the Lakers keep a 49-31 lead at the half.
He also had four assists and three rebounds.
On the defense, the Lakers worked hard and put the Rockets on their heels in the first 24 minutes.
The Lakers held the Rockets to 28.6% shooting and 16.7% from three-point range. The Rockets turned the ball over 10 times in the first.
James then opened the third quarter with a turn-around move in the post to give the Lakers a 20-point lead.
Returning to Houston for another game was not the end of the basketball world for the Lakers.
Even if all the momentum had shifted away from the Lakers and to the Rockets, Los Angeles still had the lead in the series.
Even if the Lakers had failed to close out the Rockets twice and had seen their three-game lead drop to one game, LA had no choice but to be ready for the next moment.
In the eyes of Lakers coach JJ Redick and his group, being back here is “exactly where we’re supposed to be.”
“So, you certainly don’t want to drop two games in a row,” Redick said. “You certainly don’t want to feel like you’ve given the other team confidence and momentum. But prior to the series, and if you said we were up 3-2, coming here for a close-out game and AR would be back, we’d be ecstatic. So, I said this after Game 2, that this thing was just getting started. I don’t think any of us expected a full sweep. We know they’re a great basketball team and they were going to continue to play, continue to fight. We’ve got to match that tonight.”
The Lakers did.
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