With the NBA playoffs vastly approaching in the coming weeks, two of the Western Conference’s top four-seeds took the court in a pivotal matchup.
Luka Doncic tallied 20 points and nine assists and the Los Angeles Lakers received huge performances off its bench to record a 104-98 victory over the Houston Rockets on Monday night.
Gabe Vincent and Dorian Finney-Smith each scored 20 points apiece and made six three-pointers off the bench to lead the Lakers second unit, giving the second-place Rockets (49-27) only their second loss in 14 games.
“If you want to be a good basketball team, you need guys to star in their roles… We’ve had a number of guys on our team that have fully embraced their roles and it’s been the difference in our season,” said Lakers coach JJ Reddick.
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“It feels good when guys like [Doncic] and LeBron (James) are telling me to shoot,” Finney-Smith said. “It could be the other way around.”
LeBron James had 16 points and eight rebounds and converted a pair of free throws with 11.1 seconds left in the fourth to put the fourth-seeded Lakers up 102-98, only before then sprinting across the paint to block a Alperen Sengun layup attempt on the next possession.
“I thought defensively we were very locked in with our gameplan and what we wanted to do,” James said. “They’ve won 13 out of 14. They’ve been red hot and the hottest team in the NBA. We understood that we had to key in on our keys defensively in order to win the game.”
Doncic, who played with Finney-Smith in Dallas for four years, praised his teammate and acknowledged how good it feels to be on the same team again.
“Those [are the] players you need on a team. Never complain. You can play 48 minutes, play zero, he’s never going to say a thing. And he’s a fighter, man. I always love him, I always love how he plays, and just happy to be reunited with him,” Doncic said on Finney-Smith.
Amen Thompson led the Rockets with 20 points, while Dillon Brooks had 16. Alperen Sengun recorded 14 points, seven rebounds, and six assists while Jabari Smith tallied 15 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.
Austin Reaves added 12 points, eight rebounds, and three assists for Los Angeles, who forced Houston into 15 turnovers.
“The difference is just making shots and limiting turnovers. We had two turnovers at the end that we didn’t need,” said Thompson.
Houston led 19-16 after the first quarter but the Lakers outscored the Rockets 32-29 in the second to tie the game at 48-48 at the half.
“We weathered some missed shots, did a good job of taking care of the basketball… They emptied the tank on the defensive end, it was fantastic,” said Reddick.
Vincent made back-to-back three-pointers with 3:02 left in the third to give Los Angeles a 72-67 lead. Tari Eason made a floater just before the buzzer, as the Rockets trailed 82-77 going into the final period.
Thompson made a lay-up and Brooks split a pair of free throws to get within two, 100-98 with 20 seconds remaining. James then made two free throws to put the Lakers up 102-98 with 11.0 seconds left and James had an emphatic block on Sengun in the final seconds to put the game away.
With the win, the Lakers moved within 2½ games of the Rockets and only one game of the third-place Denver Nuggets.
“Everybody’s paying attention, let’s be honest. Come on, man… We don’t want to be in the Play-In so every game matters,” said Finney-Smith.
The Lakers will next host the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday, April 4 at 7:30P.M..
