HOUSTON \u2014 The Lakers did it. \u00a0<\/p>\n
They clawed. They scrapped. They refused to give up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The team that was counted out has reached the second round of the NBA playoffs\u00a0after clinching its first-round series against the Rockets with a 98-78 win in Game 6<\/a> on Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n LeBron James led the Lakers to a series-clinching Game 6 victory over the Rockets by finishing with 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n What they went through over the last month transformed them, making them ready for their date with the reigning champion Thunder.\u00a0<\/p>\n Before everything went wrong for them, they had no chance.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now they do.<\/p>\n Game 6 was a huge test. <\/p>\n After the Lakers roared to a 3-0 series lead, the\u00a0Rockets won the next two contests. Momentum had wildly swung. The Lakers had to win in Houston or else they\u2019d face elimination.\u00a0<\/p>\n What was on the line?<\/p>\n Oh, just the Lakers\u2019 reputation<\/a> and LeBron James avoiding a dent on his legacy<\/a>. No team in NBA history had ever blown a 3-0 series lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n How did they\u00a0respond?\u00a0<\/p>\n The Lakers, who aren\u2019t known as a great defensive team, held the Rockets to fewer than 80 points for just the 10th time in a\u00a0playoff game since 2000.\u00a0<\/p>\n Marcus Smart turned back the clock with devastating defense throughout the series, including a great effort on Kevin Durant in Game 2. Getty Images<\/p>\n Deandre Ayton<\/a> and Marcus Smart were bulldogs, preventing the Rockets\u2019 scorers from getting hot.\u00a0<\/p>\n As for James, he wasn\u2019t about to let the Lakers \u2014 or himself \u2014 free-fall into infamy. He met the moment with the perfect combination of poise and ferocity, single-handedly\u00a0outscoring the Rockets in the second quarter, 14-13.\u00a0<\/p>\n As the Lakers huddled after the game, everyone bleated to honor him as the greatest player of all time (the GOAT). The 41-year-old James had just led all scorers for the fourth time this series, finishing with 28 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the California Morning Report newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCalifornia’s top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \u201cIt speaks to his greatness,\u201d Lakers coach JJ Redick said. \u201cTo me, he\u2019s had the greatest career of any NBA player.\u201d<\/p>\n It was the Lakers\u2019 latest test amid a series of seemingly impossible quizzes that they\u2019ve somehow aced over the last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n When the Lakers lost Luka Doncic (hamstring)<\/a> and Austin Reaves (oblique)<\/a> with five games remaining in the regular season, no one thought they had any chance in the playoffs. They were missing their leading scorers, who left a 60-point crater in their absence. \u00a0<\/p>\n After a four-week absence due to a Grade 2 oblique strain, Austin Reaves returned in Game 5 and played a key role in the Game 6 win. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n But the\u00a0Lakers have learned they\u2019re so much deeper than they thought.\u00a0<\/p>\n James is still a superstar, ready and willing to be the first option. Luke Kennard\u2019s talents extend far beyond the 3-point line. Ayton is capable of playing with force. Smart can look like the best defender in the league on any given night. Rui Hachimura and Jake LaRavia are capable of stepping up in big moments.\u00a0<\/p>\n For the Lakers, cutting off their two biggest limbs made the rest of their body grow stronger.\u00a0<\/p>\n It took a lot for this Lakers team to believe in itself. The negative noise was deafening.\u00a0<\/p>\n What they just accomplished is stunning.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt bleak,\u201d Redick said. \u201c\u2026 For us to be written off a few weeks ago and to win a playoff series is a big deal.\u00a0And it just speaks to the character of our team and the leaders of our team. They didn\u2019t let go of the rope.\u201d<\/p>\n Now the Lakers may just be ready for the Thunder. It\u2019s a crazy thought. But they\u2019ve risen above the impossible.\u00a0<\/p>\n That can change a team. It can seed a belief that\u2019s infectious.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Luka Doncic\u2019s status is still unknown following a Grade 2 hamstring strain, the Lakers have given him a chance to return in the second round against the Oklahoma City Thunder. AP<\/p>\n If Doncic returns in the second round of the playoffs, his teammates will no longer feel as though they live or die on his 40-point scoring flurries.\u00a0<\/p>\n Everyone in the rotation tapped into being the best version of themselves\u00a0at various points this series.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s powerful.\u00a0<\/p>\n There\u2019s no denying that the\u00a0Lakers have an enormous challenge ahead of them. Their last two games against the Thunder were disastrous. There was a 43-point loss on April 2, followed by a 36-point loss on April 7.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the Lakers are battle-tested now in a way they weren\u2019t before.\u00a0<\/p>\n They\u2019ve gone through something. They survived. They persevered.\u00a0<\/p>\n Everyone played a part in it. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n There will be no questioning LeBron James\u2019 legacy after he led the undermanned Lakers to a first-round victory over the Rockets. AP<\/p>\n James proved he\u2019s still James.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reaves returned from a painful\u00a0oblique injury in\u00a0Game 5 after pouring himself into getting\u00a0back onto the court. There\u00a0were some days he left his house at 7:30 a.m. and didn\u2019t return until 7:30 p.m. after seeking various treatments.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cLiterally,\u00a0did literally everything we could possibly do to get myself back in this opportunity,\u201d said Reaves, who had 15 points on 7-for-14 shooting.<\/p>\n Deandre Ayton averaged 11.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game in the first-round series vs. the Rockets. AP<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s Smart, who was on the verge of falling out of the league before resuscitating his career this postseason, including bottling up Kevin Durant in Game 2.<\/p>\n As for Ayton, his maturity and professionalism had fallen into question before he recently showed he can star in his role, including holding Alperen Sengun to 17 points on 5-for-12 shooting in Game 6.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s Kennard, who\u00a0made people question whether he had been playing the wrong role his entire career after shining as a playmaker in the first two games of this series.\u00a0<\/p>\n There are so many success stories this postseason on the Lakers\u2019 roster. They did this as a collective. They overcame adversity together. That makes them dangerous.\u00a0<\/p>\n They didn\u2019t have a chance.\u00a0Now they\u2019re going to the Western Conference semifinals.\u00a0<\/p>\n It would be foolish to count them\u00a0out again.\u00a0<\/p>\n Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters <\/p>\n California Post News: Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, X<\/a>, YouTube<\/a>, WhatsApp<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t
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