Lakers avoid historic 3-0 series collapse, finish off Kevin Durant-less Rockets in first-round
The Los Angeles Lakers found a way to close out the Houston Rockets in the first round of the postseason.
Lakers avoid historic 3-0 series collapse, finish off Kevin Durant-less Rockets in first-round originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . For a minute, it seemed the Los Angeles Lakers would make unfortunate NBA playoff history.
Teams that have possessed a 3-0 lead in the postseason boast a 100% win rate (159-0). The Lakers were uncomfortably close to becoming the first team to allow an opponent to overcome that significant series deficit, as a loss to the Houston Rockets on Friday would have sent the series to a win-or-go-home Game 7 at Crypto. com Arena.
To Los Angeles’ credit, they didn’t let that happen, cruising to a stress-free 98-78 victory over the Kevin Durant-less Rockets (bone bruise) and advancing to the Western Conference semifinals. James led the Lakers with 28 points while Amen Thompson contributed 18 points for Houston in a losing effort. Now that the Rockets are finally out of the way, the Lakers can shift the focus to the Oklahoma City Thunder , who eagerly await them in the second round.
One of the primary keys to victory for the Lakers will be getting Luka Doncic back in the lineup after an extended injury absence. Doncic, who was the NBA’s leading scorer in the regular season with 33. 5 points per game, has been dealing with a hamstring injury and was a long shot to be available for the Lakers in the opening round of the postseason.