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 a Rockets squad 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 who are among those battling for home-court advantage in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
Luka Doncic led the Lakers (46-29) with 20 points, nine assists and six rebounds.
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.
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.
LeBron James (16 points, eight rebounds, four assists) and Austin Reaves (12 points, eight rebounds, three assists) had relatively quieter games.
Rui 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.
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.
The Lakers, playing their 19th game in 35 days, won despite shooting 39.3% from the field (35 for 89).
Neither team led by more than eight points all night, but the Lakers nursed a small lead throughout the final 17 minutes.
More to come on this story.