HOUSTON (AP) — When leading scorers Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves were both injured in an April 2 game, coach JJ Redick admitted things felt bleak for the Los Angeles Lakers.
But instead of feeling sorry for themselves, the Lakers banded together to fight through the adversity and beat the Houston Rockets in six games to move on to face top-seeded Oklahoma City in the Western Conference semifinals.
Los Angeles has advanced to the second round for the first time since 2023 when it lost to Denver in the West final.
LeBron James had 28 points in Game 6 on Friday night and the Lakers used a tenacious defense to hold the Rockets to their fewest points of the season in the 98-78 victory.
“It speaks to his greatness,” Redick said. “To me, he’s had the greatest career of any NBA player. You can argue all you want and I really don’t care to postulate on who’s the greatest of all time, but he’s one of, if not the greatest of all time.”
“And for him to do it again and answer the bell again, it’s really -- it’s baffling in some ways,” Redick continued.
Los Angeles raced out to a 3-0 lead in the series before losing two games to force Game 6 in Houston against a Rockets team that was missing Kevin Durant for five of six games.
The Lakers played the entire series without Doncic, but Reaves returned for the last two games to help them advance.
There was a chance their series with the Thunder would have started Sunday. But Game 1 was pushed back until Tuesday night when the Raptors beat the Cavaliers 112-110 in overtime thanks to RJ Barrett’s 3-pointer in the final seconds to force Game 7.
“Thanks to Toronto,” James said. “Thank you, RJ Barrett. Appreciate it. Haven’t seen a shot in Toronto like that since Kawhi (Leonard).”
The 41-year-old James was thrilled to get a couple of extra days to rest and recover after averaging 38.5 minutes a game for his injury-plagued team in this series.
“Heck yeah,” he said. “I can go on the golf course now. That’s what I’m thinking about.”
He said he’d start delving into preparation for the Thunder by Sunday.
“It’s the defending champion,” he said. “So, it’s a tall task.”
And the Thunder will be plenty rested after finishing their sweep of Phoenix on Monday night.
Redick credited the leadership of not only James but fellow veteran Marcus Smart for helping steady his team after the injuries to Doncic and Reaves, who combined to average more than 56 points in the regular season.
“For us to be written off a few weeks ago and to win a playoff series is a big deal,” Redick said. “And it just speaks to the character of our team and the leaders of our team that they didn’t let go of the rope.”
Smart, who is in his first season with the Lakers, is so proud of the Lakers for fighting through the injuries to win this series. And he thinks that togetherness will help them as they continue their postseason run.
“It means everything,” he said. “It shows our resilience and it shows the belief that we have our next man up… and it just shows that no matter how depleted we are, we’re always going to go out there and compete and give it everything we got.”
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