Lakers finish strong in gritty road win over Rockets, extend streak to six games
· Yahoo Sports
HOUSTON — The resilience and execution in the final stretch of the fourth quarter continued the Lakers' momentum and win streak in Houston.
The Lakers pushed to six straight wins after a gritty 100-92 victory over the Rockets on Monday at the Toyota Center, behind a team effort and a lifting performance by Luka Dončić.
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“We’ve got to have a playoff mentality this time of year, and I thought our guys did that and they executed it really well,” coach JJ Redick said on the road win.
Before turning up their effort in the second half, Los Angeles struggled to contain the glass against the NBA’s No. 1 offensive rebounding team.
The lack of boxing out and easy position inside created second-chance opportunities for Houston, which in turn gave them a six-point lead at halftime and kept their push throughout most of the third quarter.
The Rockets finished with 23 second-chance points, to the Lakers' 11, while having 15 offensive rebounds.
Then the Lakers flipped the switch and anchored down on defense.
The Game-Changer: An Executed 4th-Quarter Finish
As the Lakers finished the third quarter strong, taking back their lead from down 10, in the fourth quarter, the Lakers' game plan was evident.
Getting the ball out of Kevin Durant's hands.
Every screen Durant got, he was met by two Lakers defenders trapping him. This plan disrupted the Rockets' offense.
At one point, the doubling led to Durant committing consecutive turnovers. The Rockets would have 24 total. Durant finished with 18 points in 37 minutes.
This dared the Rockets' other players to shoot, which worked in the Lakers' favor. The Lakers' defense would remain hot while their offense was just as cold as Houston's.
L.A. got the fourth started with an alley-oop connection from Austin Reaves to LeBron James. Which ended up being their only made basket for almost eight minutes.
L.A.’s defense continued to disrupt the Rockets' offense, then in the final three minutes, the Lakers went on an 11-4 run.
Deandre Ayton was a contributor in closing out the final stretch, cleaning up a James block at the rim for an open dunk and then hitting a hook shot inside to give the Lakers an eight-point lead to put the final nail in the coffin.
The Gamebreaker: The Don Yet Again
Luka Dončić, last week's Western Conference Player of the Week, came out hot with 16 points in the opening quarter.
He was a major spark in the Lakers' surge toward the end of the third quarter, hitting a step-back 3 with under 50 seconds left to give them an 83-78 lead. Doncic finished with a game-high 36 points (six rebounds, four assists).
It was the 52nd 30-point game for Dončić in a Lakers uniform, tying James Worthy.
Where They Stand
The Lakers improve to 43-25 and remain No. 3 in the Western Conference ahead of the Rockets, who sit at 41-26.
L.A. now has a 20-13 record on the road and an 18-20 record against teams .500 and above.
With 14 games left in the regular season, the Lakers have shown how they measure up against some good playoff teams with nine wins in their last 10 games.
In that span, the Lakers have come out as the victors against some sizable opponents: the Knicks, Timberwolves, Nuggets and now the Rockets.
Next On The Schedule
The Lakers remain in Houston to play the Rockets again on Wednesday to continue their six-game road trip.