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The Lakers defeated the Rockets 98-78 in Game 6, securing their first playoff series win in three years. They will face the top-seeded Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals.
LeBron James and the Lakers will need to be 30 points per game better to hang with the Thunder.
(Kenneth Richmond via Getty Images)
There might have been some reasons for worry for the Lakers in a series they once led 3-0. None of them were apparent on Friday.
With a 98-78 victory in Game 6, the Lakers finished off the Houston Rockets for their first playoff series win in three years. Their reward will be a date with the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals.
That series will start on Tuesday. The San Antonio Spurs will face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the other West semifinal.
The Lakers were coming off two straight losses at the hands of the Rockets, pushing them halfway to an unprecedented collapse. Game 4 was a one-sided defeat on the road, Game 5 was close but no victory cigar. Had it not been for the Rocketsā galling collapse in Game 3, Los Angeles would have been the ones facing elimination Friday.
The final score was 98-78 in favor of the Lakers.
The Lakers' last playoff series win was three years ago.
The Lakers will face the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Lakers finished the series against the Rockets with a 4-2 victory.

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Game 6 had no such headache. The Lakers took a double-digit lead early in the second quarter and never let it get back down to single digits. They still didnāt have their usual offense with Luka DonÄiÄ still out, but LeBron James kept doing what heās done all series, turn back the clock.
The NBAās all-time scoring leader finished with 28 points on 10-of-25 shooting, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and 3 turnovers, while DonÄiÄ had his fun from the bench.
Rui Hachimura (21 points) and Austin Reaves (15) were the only other Lakers players to score in double digits, but Deandre Ayton did have a huge game on the boards with 7 points and 16 rebounds.
The Lakers were short-handed throughout this series, but the Rockets felt the absence of Kevin Durant ā still out with an ankle injury ā even more. They shot only 31.5% as a team before the Lakers pulled their starters, and should be very grateful to the Orlando Magic for drawing away attention from their offensive woes.
Reaching the second round of the playoffs despite missing their MVP candidate in DonÄiÄ for the entire series and their No. 2 player by points per game in Reaves is an impressive achievement for the Lakers, even given the absence of Kevin Durant for Houston.
The next round will be a different beast.
The 2025-26 Rockets had their limitations at the best of times. The Thunder have lost a single game with their actual starters since March 1. And theyāve steamrolled the Lakers at every opportunity.
Here are the Lakersā four games against the Rockets this season.
The Lakers were missing at least one member of their big 3 for at least a part of each game, but thatās still an 0-4 record against the defending champions, with an average scoring margin of 29.3 points.
Thereās no telling when DonÄiÄ will return from his Grade 2 hamstring strain, but OKC was still an unsolvable problem for the Lakers with him on the court. If the Lakers are going to reach the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2023, they are going to need the biggest upset of the playoffs.