HOUSTON (AP) 鈥� 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 .
鈥淚t speaks to his greatness,鈥� Redick said. 鈥淭o me, he鈥檚 had the greatest career of any NBA player. You can argue all you want and I really don鈥檛 care to postulate on who鈥檚 the greatest of all time, but he鈥檚 one of, if not the greatest of all time.鈥�
鈥淎nd for him to do it again and answer the bell again, it鈥檚 really — it鈥檚 baffling in some ways,鈥� 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鈥檚 3-pointer in the final seconds to force Game 7.
鈥淭hanks to Toronto,鈥� James said. 鈥淭hank you, RJ Barrett. Appreciate it. Haven鈥檛 seen a shot in Toronto like that since Kawhi (Leonard).鈥�
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.
鈥淗eck yeah,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 can go on the golf course now. That鈥檚 what I鈥檓 thinking about.鈥�
He said he鈥檇 start delving into preparation for the Thunder by Sunday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the defending champion,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o, it鈥檚 a tall task.鈥�
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.
鈥淔or us to be written off a few weeks ago and to win a playoff series is a big deal,鈥� Redick said. 鈥淎nd it just speaks to the character of our team and the leaders of our team that they didn鈥檛 let go of the rope.鈥�
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.
鈥淚t means everything,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t shows our resilience and it shows the belief that we have our next man up鈥� and it just shows that no matter how depleted we are, we鈥檙e always going to go out there and compete and give it everything we got.鈥�
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