Lakers bring playoff intensity, get rewarded with win over Rockets

With the No. 2-seeded Rockets coming to town, the Lakers brought an intensity level that Houston simply could not match.

LOS ANGELES — There were no attempts to downplay the Lakers’ game against the Rockets as just another one of 82.

With the Lakers in the fifth spot and looking up to the Rockets as the No. 2 seed, a win against them on Monday would close the gap by a full game and even the season series at 1-1.

With one more game against Houston next week, a victory now would put them in a position to still own the tiebreaker over the Rockets and possibly leapfrog them in the standings.

With so much on the line, the Lakers answered the bell yet again on Monday, coming out of this game the victors with a 104-98 win.

It wasn’t the prettiest game with the Lakers shooting 39% from the field for the game and the Rockets connecting on just 36% of their shots in the second half. But L.A. outplayed Houston in the playoff-like atmosphere and earned its second straight win over a top Western Conference opponent.

“JJ [Redick] said tonight was going to be like a playoff game and it was,” Dorian Finney-Smith said. “It was low scoring. We were in half-court a lot. So it was a great test for us and felt like we got better today.”

The physicality and rough offense were apparent from the jump. If you are nostalgic about '90s basketball, this was a stellar game to turn on. In the first quarter, neither team shot well and every rebound was fought for with an aggression usually reserved for postseason action.

As is the case in most games, the Lakers were the smaller team on Monday. But what Los Angeles lacked in height, it made up for with grit.

LeBron James set the tone early defensively by battling Alperen Şengün in the paint to keep him off the glass. Offensively, the Lakers targeted Şengün, including Luka Dončić making the big man play Twister by himself.

A lot of justified chatter surrounds the Lakers' big three of LeBron, Luka and Austin Reaves, but basketball is still a five-on-five competition.

Everyone needs to play their role and occasionally step up in big moments. For Los Angeles, that meant getting contributions from players like DFS and Gabe Vincent.

On Monday, they weren’t supporting cast members but the leads of the show. Their roles were the same as they always were: make your open shots, play defense and space the floor.

But their execution was nearly perfect.

Both Vincent and DFS made six 3-pointers and scored 20 points off the bench. In a game where the Big Three simply whelmed, they stepped up. And in games of this magnitude, having players coming off the bench ready to step up can make all the difference.

“If you want to be a good basketball team, you need guys to star in their roles,” Redick said. “And it goes back to the thing I’ve said a couple of times, which is on bad teams, players reject their roles. On good teams, players accept their roles. On great teams, players embrace their roles.


“And we’ve had a number of guys that aren’t the Big Three or whatever moniker you want to give, [Reaves], Luka and LeBron, we have a number of guys on our team that have fully embraced their roles and it’s been the difference in our season.”

The win was needed and also served as a reminder that even when the Lakers don’t bring their best, it still may take a big effort to knock them off.

The marathon will continue for the Lakers, but now they have some quality wins against the best of the West as proof of concept that they can not only hang with quality opponents, but win in different ways.

On Saturday, it was with a high-powered offense. On Sunday, it was grit and grind.

Los Angeles brought that playoff energy to Crypto and with the postseason just around the corner, if they continue to do so the rest of the way, they may just have something to say about who hoists the Larry O’Brien this June.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.