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Lakers advance to 2nd round with Game 6 rout of Rockets

May 2, 2026

HOUSTON — JJ Redick slumped against the padded wall of the SMU basketball program’s Dallas training facility and crossed his arms close to his chest.

The Lakers head coach had already learned of Luka Doncic’s injury, a Grade 2 left hamstring strain that would sideline him indefinitely – one he’s yet to return from – but he was still waiting on MRI results on Austin Reaves’ injury, an ailment that would ultimately be diagnosed as a Grade 2 left oblique strain later that day.

Even then, before losing Reaves alongside Doncic for the remainder of the regular season, Redick admitted in solemn honesty that the way the Lakers would play, from a “strategic tactical standpoint,” would have to be different. They’d play to extend their season, hopefully long enough to get one or both of their starting guards back during the playoffs.

The DNA, however, would remain the same.

“Our mission hasn’t changed,” Redick said on April 4. “We want to win a first-round series.”

The Lakers achieved that feat on Friday night, rolling to a dominant 98-78 victory over the Houston Rockets in Game 6, eliminating the fifth-seeded squad to advance to the Western Conference semifinals. The Lakers will face the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in a best-of-seven series that begins Tuesday night in Oklahoma City.

LeBron James led the Lakers with 28 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, while the Rockets couldn’t replicate the offensive success of their Game 4 and 5 wins, shooting just 35% from the field without Kevin Durant available for the fifth time in the series.

The Lakers held the Rockets to their lowest point total of the season, 13 points below a 91-point effort Houston had in an early January loss to the Thunder. A 22-2 run during the first half, combined with the Rockets having their worst first-half scoring effort of the season – 31 points – helped the Lakers build an 18-point lead by halftime.

Rui Hachimura added 21 points on 5-for-7 shooting from 3-point range, helping the Lakers extend their cushion to 25 points (63-38) in the third quarter with his fourth 3-pointer of the night. And for the third straight game, center Deandre Ayton’s aggression in the paint paid dividends, recording double-digit rebounds (16) and holding Rockets star center Alperen Sengun to just 17 points on 5-for-12 shooting.

Defensively, players big and small stepped up. Marcus Smart rose to deny a Tari Eason dunk attempt – one of nine Lakers blocked shots on Friday – as Austin Reaves used a light touch on the other end to place the Lakers up 69-47 with 2:53 remaining in the third quarter. When the Rockets cut the deficit to 16 points, right before the end of the third quarter, Smart successfully drew a charge from a driving Sengun to deflate the Toyota Center crowd heading into the final 12 minutes.

Reaves finished the night with 15 points on 7-for-14 shooting, a step up efficiency-wise from his return to action in Game 5 on Wednesday. The 27-year-old guard had three blocks himself against the Rockets.

After a less-than-ideal 3-point-shooting performance in Games 4 and 5, the Lakers shot 12 for 28 from behind the arc (42.9%) on Friday. The Rockets, on the other hand, shot just 17.9% from long range (5 for 28).

On the glass, the Lakers won the battle for the second consecutive game, 54-45 – a notable end to the series considering Redick harped on how the Lakers would have to fight against the Rockets – the top rebounding team in the NBA – in the series. Amen Thompson (18 points) and Tari Eason (14 points) both scored in double-digits, but it was nowhere near enough to make a dent in a Lakers lead that climbed as high as 29 points.

Before Friday’s game, Redick was asked about what it was like to have to return to Houston after losing in back-to-back games; making foes wonder if the Lakers could would become the first team in NBA history to lose a series after holding a 3-0 lead.

“Prior to the series, and if you said we were up 3-2, coming here for a closeout game, and AR would be back, we’d be ecstatic,” he said.

There’s even more reason to be ecstatic. The Lakers not only advanced to play the defending champions in the second round, and returned a healthy Reaves, but they sent a message to naysayers.

Yes, without Doncic the Lakers look different. But only one team in the series has James, a four-time league MVP who has played in more playoff games than any player before him.

And the 41-year-old future Hall-of-Famer wasn’t going to let the Lakers’ season end with a historic whimper.

More to come on this story.

Orange County Register

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Lakers advance to 2nd round with Game 6 rout of Rockets

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