NBA playoffs news: LeBron James revived LA Lakers in Houston Rockets series victory
After the Los Angeles Lakers’ sluggish performances in Games 4 and 5, LeBron James’ leadership and experience was on full display in their series-clinching 98-78 Game 6 victory vs the Houston Rockets on Saturday, May 2.
James led his side with 28-8-7, while Austin Reaves scored 15 points, shooting the ball significantly better at a 50% FG, improving on his previous showing in Game 5.
Reaves did struggle from three, however, power forward Rui Hachimura picked up the slack and ended the game 5-7 from the perimeter for his 21 points.
Lakers’ big man stepping up
“You have to have some type of stop sign where enough is enough,” Lakers big man Deandre Ayton said after the win.
“You have to match the physicality in a way where it’s contagious to your team-mates as well.
“So I just tried to play as I am, the biggest dude on the court, and just go out and get every damn rebound.
“It got to a point where I didn’t even know I was hitting guys and giving certain blows just off boxing out.
“When there were switches, I took advantage of the glass, and when I’m in pick and roll, I had position to box out and grab O-boards as well.
“It was just things I was really picking up throughout the series of where I can affect the game if I couldn't score,” he added.
Nullifying Sengun’s influence
Ayton, who collected 16 boards in the crunch game, did a particularly effective job on nullifying the influence and impact of Rockets’ star Alperen Sengun.
The Turkish centre is hard to stop on a defender’s best day, but Ayton did a good job on him despite Sengun picking up good offensive numbers across the series.
“JJ [Redick] and the coaches really challenged me about guarding Sengun one-on-one,” Ayton said.
“We just wanted to go back on how we guarded them if KD (Kevin Durant) were out there.
“Guard them straight up and I took the challenge to my chin. Just putting the team on my back and them trusting me.
“It really gave me that power to really close out possessions.”
Despite such a valuable, hard-fought first-series victory for the Lakers, their uphill battle has just begun, with the LA team meeting dominant champions the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round on Wednesday, May 6.
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