The Los Angeles Lakers have advanced to the Western Conference semifinals for the first time in three seasons after eliminating the pesky Houston Rockets on Friday night. Now, it is on to Oklahoma City to face the No. 1-seeded Thunder starting Tuesday night. Will Luka Doncic be available in the series?
LeBron James Leads Lakers To Western Conference Semis for Just 3rd Time, Is Luka Doncic Returning Against OKC?
Trailing by five points midway through the first quarter, LA went on a 27-3 run over the subsequent 13 minutes of action to take a 38-19 lead and control of Game 6. The Lakers went on to cruise to a 98-78 victory as LeBron James tossed in 28 points on 10 of 25 shooting from the field to go along with eight assists and seven rebounds. It is the first time since 2o23 that the Lakers have advanced to the second round.
“For us to be written off a few weeks ago and win a playoff series is a big deal,” coach JJ Redick said after the game.
It certainly wasn’t easy for the Lakers, but they did finally get the job done despite only having Austin Reaves for the final two games and Doncic not playing at all. Four of the six games were decided by single digits. Only one contest saw both teams hit the century mark.
Overall, the Lakers outscored the Rockets 101.2 -98.7 in the series. The Lakers, the second-best shooting team in the league, connected on 47.8% of their field goal attempts for the series, and 38.6% of their 3-pointers. The Lakers did a good job on the boards against the Rockets, the NBA’s top rebounding team, as both teams finished with 41.5 boards a game. However, turnovers were an issue, as they averaged 17.5 per contest.
Erik Williams-Imagn Images via Reuters
