HOUSTON — The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t leave anything to chance in Game 6.
With a dominant first half and a wire-to-wire effort, L.A. rolled past the Houston Rockets 98–78 on Friday to close out the series 4–2 and advance to the second round, where they’ll face the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
From the second quarter on, the Lakers were in full control.
After a steady opening frame that saw Houston come out with more energy behind a loud home crowd at Toyota Center, the Lakers faced their first obstacle of the night, trailing 16–11.
How did they respond?
It was the last time they faced a deficit.
Riding the ageless force of 41-year-old LeBron James, who finished with a game-high 28 points to go along with eight assists and seven rebounds, the Lakers flipped the game quickly.
James scored 14 points in the second quarter — one more than the Rockets’ entire output in the period — pushing L.A. to a 49–31 halftime lead.
The defensive tone was just as important.
The Lakers held Houston to 28.6% shooting from the field and 16.7% from three in the first half, completely disrupting any offensive rhythm.
The Rockets also got no production from their bench early, digging a hole they never climbed out of.
L.A. broke the game open for good with a 9–0 run coming out of the break, extending its lead and removing any remaining doubt.
The Lakers never let up.
Rui Hachimura provided a major scoring punch, continuing his efficient night with two key three-pointers in the third quarter to halt any Houston momentum and keep their lead above 20.
Hachimura finished with 21 points and six rebounds on 8-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, spacing the floor and capitalizing on the attention drawn by James and Austin Reaves.
Reaves, coming off a rusty Game 5, looked much more like himself.
He settled into the game as it progressed, finishing with 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting while adding three rebounds and providing timely contributions on both ends.
Defensively, Marcus Smart made his presence felt everywhere.
By the end of the third quarter, he had already compiled five rebounds, two blocks, two steals, and three drawn charges, consistently disrupting Houston’s rhythm and anchoring a connected defensive effort.
Smart had arguably his best defensive play of the season, stuffing Rockets’ Tari Eason, who tried to go up for a two-handed dunk.
The numbers reflected the Lakers’ control.
L.A. held advantages in rebounds (54–45), fast break points (19–8) and three-point shooting (43% to Houston’s 18%), while leading for three quarters of the game and building a lead as large as 29.
The Rockets never found sustained offense, making just 5-of-28 from 3 and shooting 35% from the field.
Most importantly, the Lakers executed a clear Game 6 plan on both ends — defend without fouling, control the glass and generate efficient looks — and did so for a full 48 minutes to end the series with a 20-point win.
Now, a bigger test awaits.
The Lakers will travel to Oklahoma City to open their second-round series against the Thunder, with Game 1 set for Tuesday.