FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Clutch time defense has been huge for JJ Redick and the Lakers all season long.

The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the best clutch time defensive teams in the NBA. At no point did I believe I’d be writing the words best, Lakers, and defensive in the same sentence in 2026, but here we are. On Monday night, that clutch defense once again showed up for the Lake Show. In 3 minutes and 45 seconds of clutch time, the Rockets scored zero baskets. None. Not one!

Two Amen Thompson free throws were the only points the Rockets scored in that stretch; by the time Kevin Durant scored a layup in the final 30 seconds, it was no longer a clutch game. JJ Redick and the Lakers completely shut down one of their biggest competitors in the West, and it wasn’t a fluke — the Lakers are the sixth-best clutch time defensive team in the league.

In fact, they did the exact same thing literally two days earlier against the Denver Nuggets; in overtime, the Nuggets scored two baskets, an Aaron Gordon 3-pointer and a Nikola Jokic layup. That second basket probably wouldn’t have happened if Deandre Ayton had grabbed the ball after he blocked Jokic the first time, but I digress. Still pretty impressive.

In short, that’s two MVP-led offenses the Lakers have neutralized in back-to-back games. It’s a trend, and it’s a thrilling trend for Lakers fans. Dare I say it’s the kind of trend that wins teams playoff series? I do dare! But in the meantime, it’s just an all-around encouraging sign that JJ Redick has gotten buy-in from this team on the defensive end.

Lakers completely shut down Kevin Durant and Rockets offense

Who would have thought the Los Angeles Lakers defense would have Kevin Durant venting about how he doesn’t even want to be a superstar anymore? Not I! But that’s where we are now. I don’t want to speak for Durant (I wouldn’t dare, actually), but this doesn’t sound like a guy who would be thrilled to play the Lakers in the postseason.

“I don’t know man, maybe I just need to get out the way, go sit in the corner. Set some screens, space the floor…….”

Luka Doncic and the Lakers defense got Kevin Durant contemplating life as a role player pic.twitter.com/E9PlogEoeJ

— HeroOfTheDay (@Hero_OfThe_Day) March 17, 2026

Every team goes through ups and downs over the course of an 82-game slog, and the Lakers defense might come back to earth before the playoffs start. Even if that does happen, I think this stretch of high-level defense (both in the clutch and not) is enough of a sign to believe they can hang with most Western Conference teams in the playoffs, which is more than I would have ventured to say a month ago.

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

HOUSTON — A few hours before the Lakers’ gritty 100-92 win over the Rockets on Monday evening, head coach JJ Redick spoke at length about the responsibility of his players to be stars in their defensive roles. That would be the theme of the night.

The overwhelming takeaway from the contest was Los Angeles’ ability to neutralize Kevin Durant in the halfcourt, limiting the future Hall of Famer to just 1-for-5 shooting in the second half, with six turnovers. But that approach took more than just aggressive play-calls and schemes from the coaching staff to be successful. The Lakers have won nine out of their last 10, with the league’s No. 2 defense, and are outscoring opponents by 14.6 points per 100 possessions. They’re playing their best brand of basketball at the right time, and Luka Dončić, for all of his offensive brilliance, remains a critical figure at the other end.

“Overall he’s been a good defender for us,” Redick said after the game. “When he gets switched on to the ball — I don’t know what the updated numbers are after the last three games — it’s been under 0.9 [points allowed per possession]. It’s been one of the best, if not the best of all our perimeter guys.

“He’s been more active with rotations and being physical with our switching groups. With him, it’s to be solid, engaged, do our rules, and he’s smart and can execute that at a high level. When he’s fully on defensively, he can guard the basketball. We’ve seen him do it against everybody in this league. We trust him.”

The narrative of Dončić’s defense and the evolution of his ability to contribute positively has been trending up over the last few seasons. It had been a consistent knock against him since entering the league nearly a decade ago, and with the 2024 Finals when Dončić was routinely targeted by the Boston Celtics. His defense became an inflection point for both him and the Dallas Mavericks as an organization. (Dončić’s defensive shortcomings were also reportedly one of the reasons for the silliest trade in professional sports history, but that’s neither here nor there.)

His arrival in Los Angeles, joining an offensive-leaning Austin Reaves and an aging LeBron James, didn’t come without questions about the Lakers’ viability. Adding Deandre Ayton in the offseason, another scoring big, also gave the impression that the organization was eschewing one side of the ball for the other. On the season, they rank 20th in defensive rating, a reminder of the difficulties associated with roster construction.

But Dončić, who reportedly lost over 20 pounds during the offseason, came into training camp with an improved physique and conditioning, putting him in prime position to function as a key cog in Redick’s shape-shifting defense.

On paper, the Lakers don’t have a plethora of defensive specialists. This isn’t a great rebounding or shot-blocking group (25th in blocks, 28th in rebounds) by any means. And outside of Marcus Smart, there is a dearth of physical point-of-attack aggressors. What Redick has done to account for the lack of roster tools is compose a scheme good enough to keep opposing offenses honest.

The Lakers’ defense is a true sum of its parts. It relies heavily on zone (fourth in frequency, per Synergy tracking); encourages switching to slow teams down (second most in the league); keeps multiple bodies within a decent proximity of one another (ninth in medium defensive shell usage). But the Lakers are also hell-bent on helping each other — top-10 in rotations, second in digs and sixth in loading up in the paint.

An understanding of Redick’s scheme means contextualizing Dončić’s defensive skill set, highlighting what he is good at and attempting to mask what he’s deficient in. Contesting shots, arguably the second-most important aspect of defense outside of positioning, is a strength of his, with Dončić in the 95th percentile in shots contested per 100 possessions and 87th percentile in rim contests. This particularly manifests itself as an isolation defender, when teams try to pick at him; Dončić is allowing just 0.844 points per possession in 109 isolations this year, a hairline below Amen Thompson, and a better mark than Jaden McDaniels and OG Anunoby. He is now quick enough to move his feet with ball-handlers in space and has an improved burst, which helps with his reaction time.

(It’s important to note that this is all happening at the same time as one of the most heliocentric seasons in recent NBA history. Dončić is seventh in touches per game, second in time of possession, third in usage rate among players who have logged at least 1,000 minutes and, oh yeah, first in the league in scoring. Combine that with some of his advanced metrics — ninth in DARKO, seventh in EPM, sixth in LEBRON — and the sheer fact that Dončić is no longer simply taking plays off on defense is worth mentioning.)

Trusting Dončić in defensive space, combined with Redick placing him on low-usage forwards and standstill shooters, affords the best version of the Slovenian, allowing him to take chances in passing lanes. His 4.2 deflections per 100 possessions rank in the 82nd percentile, according to Databallr, and a healthy amount of steals, blocks and a positive stop rate ensure he’s not regarded as a weak link in the Lakers’ setup.

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

A quick dive into the film of how the Lakers hunt the weakest link

The Lakers beat the Rockets in a low-scoring affair in the first game of this mini two-game series, securing their sixth straight win. Tonight brings a rematch against a hungry Houston team, now reinforced by the return of Alperen Sengun, with Kevin Durant looking to prove he can solve the Lakers’ aggressive defense and double teams that frustrated him in the first matchup.

These mini-series are always fun because they bring playoff-like adjustments. For the Rockets, that will of course mean finding better counters to the Lakers’ doubling of Durant. Having another scorer and passer in Sengun will help, and the Lakers will have to deal with his scoring on the block and added rebounding presence. Cleaning up the rebounding, where the Lakers were dominated by Houston for the second time in as many games this season, should be a top priority for JJ Redick and his team.

Sengun will also give Ime Udoka an additional player, allowing him to reduce the minutes for his main rotation. He played a playoff-like eight-man rotation, with Josh Okogie as the eighth man logging only seven and a half minutes. Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr. both played more than 40 minutes, while Durant logged 37, and Tari Eason (34) and Reed Sheppard (31) both played more than 30.

Sheppard, at 31 minutes, was a problem, as predicted in my preview. The second-year, 6’2” guard, along with big man Clint Capela, was the main target of the Lakers’ attack. Sengun will help them significantly on the boards and on offense, but he will be the third player in the rotation that the Lakers will target. Redick talked postgame about how much more difficult it is to score against the Rockets when they play all-wing lineups with no clear weaknesses (although Luka Dončić seems to find extra motivation to go at and score against his old friend Dorian Finney-Smith).

Lakers game one main target: Reed Sheppard (VIDEO)

In my game previews I usually focus on who and how I expect the Lakers to attack on offense. Their system, built around Dončić, James, and Reaves, might look simple at times, although Redick is running plenty of good ATOs and actions, especially for shooters like Kennard and Hachimura. But their real strength is manipulating matchups, which is often what decides games in the playoffs. Usually, there isn’t enough space to break down how those weak links are attacked. So here, I’ll take a closer look at how the Lakers went at Reed Sheppard in the last game, using a couple of clips.

For starters, here is the tracking data showing which screener defender was involved in the most Lakers pick-and-roll actions on Monday:

Sheppard — 21 picks defended
Capela — 19 picks
Finney-Smith — 8 picks
Smith Jr. — 6 picks
Durant — 3 picks
Eason — 1 pick
Thompson — 1 pick

The top of this list clearly shows which matchups Dončić and Reaves, the two primary ballhandlers, were hunting for, and which ones they wanted to avoid. The names at the bottom of the list were the primary on-ball defenders. Sheppard was the one they went at the most, and had the most success attacking. Because of his size, Udoka wanted to avoid one-on-one matchups with Dončić at all costs, so Sheppard tried to hedge and then recover to his man on most ball screens.

Here is the first action, a double drag that the Lakers typically use against hedging defenses. Sheppard and Eason miscommunicated on the first screen, with Eason trying to switch, while Sheppard almost panicked, trying to hedge and recover to his man. You can see him pointing Eason toward Dončić. The breakdown resulted in an open Dončić pull-up three against Capela in drop coverage.

The second clip is still the double drag, but this time it’s Reaves whom Sheppard is defending as one of the screeners. This time Sheppard and Okogie execute the coverage properly, applying pressure on Dončić by showing two defenders for a second, with Sheppard trying to recover to Reaves slipping out of the action. However, that put him at a disadvantage, trying to chase Reaves, a great downhill driver, and Reaves, with the help of a great blockout screen by Deandre Ayton, gets a high-quality look in the paint.

The next set is a simple guard-to-guard screen, with Luke Kennard screening for Dončić. Kennard is a devastating pop threat, and as such, a great option for hunting favorable guard matchups. He is a great screener, although a bit hesitant, or a slow-release shooter. You can see Dončić orchestrating, sending Hayes away from the action and bringing Kennard, with Sheppard, into it. Finney-Smith and Kennard execute the first show and recover with the help of Eason, without giving up an advantage. However, Dončić and Kennard just repeat it, this time with a much better screen. This time the advantage is created, with the Lakers perfectly executing the 3-on-2 situation, with Hayes setting a flare pin-in screen for Marcus Smart in the corner.

The last play is an after-timeout (ATO) play that Redick drew up in the third quarter. I really like this one because it involves an off-ball screening action, putting pressure on Sheppard, while using Dončić as a decoy as the on-ball player who draws the main attention. Kennard sets another great back screen, forcing Sheppard to switch onto James, despite that obviously not being the plan, as you can see from Sheppard’s reaction and a frustrated Udoka calling a timeout in anger after the play.

When the Lakers play disciplined and add off-ball actions to their main pick-and-roll or other actions targeting specific matchups, they consistently generate great offense, and this is what they will need to do in the rematch.

The counter most teams will use is to put their weak link, in this case Sheppard, or in the previous game Nikola Jokić, or potentially Sengun tonight, on Smart at the end of games. This is why we see, for better or worse, a lot of Smart three-pointers at the end of close games.

Smart missed a couple (including the one in the prior clip) before draining a crucial one later, with two minutes left in the game. One of several clutch threes he has made during the recent winning streak.

We’ll see how today’s matchup plays out with Sengun back in the mix, and what kind of adjustments both coaches make. Hopefully this breakdown sheds some light on what’s going on in these games and makes tonight’s watch even more interesting.

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

HOUSTON — Sometime after Deandre Ayton exited the Los Angeles Lakers’ road loss to the Denver Nuggets, the 2018 No. 1 pick made a decision.

No longer, he thought, would he be a weight lagging behind his team. No longer would he worry about anything other than impacting winning. And no longer would he take for granted the opportunity to play meaningful basketball.

After one of his best weeks in a long time, Ayton found himself on the bench Monday against the Houston Rockets, with Clint Capela — of all people — looking more in rhythm and more impactful early. But with the Lakers getting crushed on the glass and desperately needing the interior presence, head coach JJ Redick went back to his starting center.

And just like he did in wins against the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver, Ayton made winning plays to help the Lakers continue building momentum. It didn’t matter that he had spent most of the half on the bench — he stayed locked in with his team in case they called on his name.

“I’m telling you, once I sit that long, that’s usually it,” Ayton joked with The Athletic. “It’s like … ‘You out (of the game) for a reason — go think about it. But lately it’s been like, ‘Nah, DA. You good.’

“And I’ve completely … I bought in. Completely, like 110 percent. I hope you see the work.”

There have been some stops and starts for the Lakers’ center. His energy and impact have fluctuated as the team has searched for a winning recipe.

At times, the Lakers have closed games with Ayton on the bench, instead turning to reserves Jaxson Hayes or Maxi Kleber. Other times, they’ve gone without a center. It’s notable that despite his inconsistencies, Ayton has found ways to regroup and reconnect.

Like many of the Lakers’ issues — balancing the workload between Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and LeBron James, or figuring out who to defend without multiple plus on-ball defenders — getting Ayton comfortable in his role was always going to take time.

The Lakers don’t need Ayton to catch the ball off pick-and-roll in the pocket and splash 12-foot jumpers. They don’t need him stretching to the deep midrange, a shot he’s skilled enough to hit. They do need him to be active on defense, closing out possessions on one end and extending them on the others while setting screens and rolling hard to the rim.

It’s the stuff that might not always show up in the box score. For Ayton, it’s about relearning how he can impact a game without being the focal point offensively.

“That’s a fact. That is a true fact,” he told The Athletic Monday about scoring. “But me, I scratched that, I took that out. I said … when it comes to scoring, we don’t need that. We need you to put that energy what you have for offense and into defense.

“I just started looking in the mirror and said ‘Yo bro, … you’re not that guy. You don’t need to be on this team doing that at all. This team, you came here to be the effort guy and close out possessions, rebound. Run the damn floor hard as hell, make bigs work, make superstars work.

“And I’m having fun with it, I’m not gonna lie.”

Ayton is undoubtedly a ceiling-raiser for the Lakers — an X-factor as the team surges towards the postseason. Recently, he’s recommitted to playing with the energy his team needs as it sharpens its focus for the playoffs.

He’s admitted that he wasn’t always at that level. Now, Ayton says, he’s adjusted.

“JJ’s been instilling to us that this is a playoff atmosphere, and we fighting for a playoff position,” Ayton said. “You can tell LeBron’s been locked in, Luka — everybody’s been completely locked in, and I’m just tired of being the odd man out. I think I told the media the other day, it’s just me finally catching up.

“Team’s been there; it’s just been me.”

The Lakers (43-25) have won six straight and nine of their last 10, with strong performances from Ayton in recent games.

Wednesday will be Ayton’s 60th game this season — his most since his final season with the Phoenix Suns. Despite averaging career lows in minutes, points and rebounds, Ayton understands that a return to the playoffs and meaningful basketball is exactly why he wanted to be in Los Angeles.

Whether it’s a 23-point, 10-rebound game like he had against the undersized Chicago Bulls, a massive defensive effort in overtime against Nikola Jokić or a strong closing shift after a long break against the Rockets, Ayton has delivered when the Lakers have needed him.

“I was energized, and I was having fun,” Ayton said. “So I really like that the team is trusting me, man. I just don’t want to lose the trust, bro. That’s really what’s getting my juices going and me biting my fingernails waiting to get back in the damn game for real.

“Just getting back to having fun — I’m not gonna lie.”

DEANDRE AYTON IS STILL LAKERS 'WILD CARD!'I have to give JJ Redick high praise for how he has managed Deandre Ayton this season. Lots of coaches would have thrown their hands up in frustration and given up on Deandre. But not Redick. He realized that Deandre has something none… pic.twitter.com/ZjxxzeGz14— LakerTom (@LakerTom) March 18, 2026

Deandre Ayton comprendió su papel en los Lakers.“Empecé a mirarme al espejo y me dije: ‘Oye, amigo, tú no eres ese tipo. No tienes por qué estar en este equipo haciendo eso. En este equipo viniste para ser el que se esfuerza al máximo’”. pic.twitter.com/jstd5arEV9— The Night MVP (@TheNightMVP) March 18, 2026

JJ REDICK FOR COACH OF THE YEAR 😝 pic.twitter.com/4vfYlHnk6K https://t.co/CZRNpzWu56— lex 🧃 (@lukalexicon) March 17, 2026

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Welcome back to this week’s Lakers newsletter, where we are fully scoreboard watching.

The Lakers have 14 games left and are surging up the Western Conference standings. With six consecutive wins and nine in their last 10, the Lakers (43-25) are third in the West and suddenly have a 1.5-game lead on fourth-place Houston.

The team that couldn’t beat anyone good suddenly has statement wins over four teams with .600 records. The turnaround from fighting to stay out of the play-in to now being in position for homecourt advantage left even JJ Redick struggling to find the right description.

“Is coalesce a word?” Redick said after the Lakers outlasted the Denver Nugget in overtime on Saturday. “Is that the right word? For coming together? Jelling? I think it feels like we’re coalescing right now in a really nice way.”

Lakers’ ‘Big Three’ finds its pecking order

The defining moment of LeBron James’ performance during the Lakers’ game of the season officially went down as a turnover.

His Superman dive to save a loose ball with 54.3 seconds left in regulation against Denver on Saturday turned into one of James’ five turnovers because the Lakers did not corral the jump ball. But the statistical and physical sacrifice of the play showed the type of role James will play on this team coming down the stretch of the season.

“It’s a great example of leadership,” Redick said. “Leadership is not just the voice who’s talking. Leadership is then what you do on the court, and if you want to be a winning team then you need guys who are willing to take the lead and make winning plays.”

With Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves starring, Redick acknowledged that “the best thing for our team is [James] being the third highest-used player.” Since returning from hip and elbow injuries that kept him out of three games, James has had the third-highest usage rate on the team in each of the last three games. All were wins.

Redick acknowledged that “finding the groove” between James, Doncic and Reaves has been “the challenge for all of them, not just LeBron, all season.” It was more difficult because alternating injuries limited the trio’s time together on the court.

The season-long advanced metrics have favored having just Doncic and Reaves on the court, who have a plus-eight net rating together, as opposed to all three (plus-3.2 net rating). But the modest rating of the Doncic, Reaves and James combination has taken dramatic leaps this week alone.

James, Doncic and Reaves outscored opponents by 32.7 points per 100 possessions in wins against the Bulls and Nuggets.

The Lakers have gotten their “best win of the season” four times in the last nine days. Two were without James when the Lakers blew out the Knicks and the Timberwolves. He returned and the wins got grittier: an overtime thriller against Denver and Monday’s tense victory in Houston.

Other teammates made the flashy, standout plays. Doncic nailed the game-winning basket in overtime against Denver, and Reaves forced extra time with a one-in-a-hundred intentionally missed free throw. Deandre Ayton had four consecutive points late in the fourth quarter against Houston that put the Rockets away.

The NBA’s all-time leading scorer, meanwhile, has been a relatively quiet seven-for-13 from the field in each of the last three games, scoring no more than 18 points. He doesn’t mind as long as it adds up to wins.

“If it benefits others, it benefits the team,” James said last week. “The team is most important.”

It won’t count in the stat sheet, but watching James fly across the floor at 41 years old against Denver was “one of the biggest plays of the game,” Reaves said Saturday. Redick joked that after 23 NBA seasons and three years of high school he had never seen James lay out for a loose ball like that.

Because he never had, James replied.

And after sharing a photo on social media of a bright red court burn the size of a nickel, James might never do it again.

“Might be it for diving for the year!” James wrote in an Instagram story showing the wound. “Ouch! Lol!”

Deandre Ayton arrives just in time

Nearly 10 years before teaming up for the Lakers, Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton were just teenaged prospects with big dreams. They first met at a Basketball without Borders camp in 2016. The roster that year also included future NBA champions Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Isaiah Hartenstein. Hachimura recalled Ayton dominating everyone. Then the 7-foot center from the Bahamas inexplicably disappeared.

“That’s what I remember,” Hachimura said with a smile remembering his first impression of his future Lakers teammate. “I was like, ‘Where’s this guy going?’”

When Hachimura shared that anecdote in October, it was an unintentionally fitting description of Ayton’s career. Over the last eight years, the former No. 1 pick has dominated and disappeared in equal measure.

Just in time for the Lakers’ biggest games of the year, the enigmatic center returned to his “DominAyton” mode.

Ayton averaged 13 points and 9.8 rebounds per game in wins over the Knicks, Timberwolves, Bulls and Nuggets after coming back from a one-game injury absence. When Jaxson Hayes and Maxi Kleber were sidelined for games against Minnesota and Chicago, Ayton starred with back-to-back double-doubles.

“Felt like I picked up my energy and my focus,” Ayton said. “I finally caught up with the team.”

One of the surest signs of Ayton’s engagement is his activity on the boards. The Lakers are 29-7 when Ayton has eight or more rebounds and 8-14 when he has seven or fewer. Lately he has been especially clutch with three rebounds and four points in overtime against Denver and five rebounds with six points in the fourth quarter against Houston when the Lakers finished the game on a 13-4 run.

“He is an X factor for us, if not the X Factor,” Redick said after Ayton scored 23 points with 10 rebounds against the Bulls, “because him playing at a high level raises our ceiling. It changes the makeup of our team.”

Ayton had his son Deandre Ayton Jr. in the locker room after that performance against the Bulls. The five-year-old bounced a white rubber ball on the ground while waiting for his dad to finish showering then joined him at his locker for his media obligations. After the game when the Lakers celebrated “Girl Dad Night,” this proud boy dad left a lasting impression.

“Truly a blessing,” Ayton said of having his son join him at the game, “especially being a Laker. Just hope he [is] inspired.”

On tap

Wednesday at Rockets (41-26), 6:30 p.m.

This game will decide the head-to-head tiebreaker between Houston and L.A. In the tight conference race, the Lakers already own head-to-head tiebreakers against Denver and Minnesota, but not against Phoenix, which is lurking in the seventh spot with a 39-29 record, four games behind the Lakers.

Thursday at Heat (38-30), 5 p.m.

The Heat were one of the hottest teams in the East before losing to the Orlando Magic on Saturday in Norman Powell’s return from injury. Powell came off the bench after missing seven games because of a groin injury and scored 20 points. The Heat were 7-0 during the stretch without Powell, even playing without Tyler Herro for two games.

Saturday at Magic (38-29), 4 p.m.

The Magic’s seven-game winning streak came to an end Monday in Atlanta. Franz Wagner (ankle) has played in just four games since Dec. 7, and Paolo Banchero is averaging 24.8 points on 51.4% shooting, 9.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists during the month of March.

Monday at Detroit (48-19), 4 p.m.

The Pistons are cruising toward the top seed in the East. Cade Cunningham has continued his breakthrough year with 24.9 points and 10.1 assists per game.

Status report
Maxi Kleber (lumbar back strain)

The backup big man has missed four games because of a back injury that started earlier this season and recently flared up against. Kleber has good days and bad days, Redick said, and has been shut down for five days. He did not travel to Houston for the beginning of the six-game trip, but the Lakers hope he can join.

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

Lakers beat the Rockets at their own game
Knicks, Timberwolves, Nuggets, and now the Rockets.

For most of the year, the Lakers couldn’t beat good teams. Now they are doing it one after another. The Lakers defeated the Rockets in the first of the two matchups, a 100–92 low-scoring contest.

This one for sure wasn’t pretty, but it was important.

The Lakers got their sixth straight win, have now won nine of their last ten games, and moved ahead of another direct Western Conference rival.

Both teams will now have a day off to reload before the rematch. And for the Lakers, the next one almost feels like playing with house money at this point after collecting all these important wins. After a somewhat humiliating collapse last night, the pressure will be on the Rockets, and we can expect them to come out angry and motivated. But the Lakers should get greedy and try to steal another one.

Today’s notes:

Ugly game of deficits

Luka the only Laker comfortable against Houston’s length (VIDEO)

Deandre Ayton shows up late and wins the battle of Capelas

Lakers defense frustrates another star (VIDEO)

Austin Reaves, we see you (VIDEO)

1-Ugly game of deficits

In my preview I mentioned this would be a battle of styles, a battle of different team-building philosophies built around different strengths. Instead, this playoff-like slugfest turned into a showcase of deficiencies. The Lakers’ lack of length and athleticism against the Rockets’ lack of skill and playmaking.

With both teams shooting terribly from three (the Lakers were 8 of 34 and the Rockets 5 of 26 from beyond the arc), it turned into a battle of which coach could press the right buttons to punish those deficiencies more.

The Rockets used their length and athleticism to get to every loose offensive board (or every other one to be exact, as they collected an almost absurd 48% of their misses). The Lakers, on the other end, challenged Kevin Durant and the Rockets’ lack of playmaking by forcing 22 turnovers. The Rockets’ 26.4% turnover rate was the highest for any Lakers opponent this season.

Source: Cleaning the Glass

Another thing I mentioned in my preview was how much better the Lakers’ half-court offense is compared to the Rockets. And even on a night when their shotmaking was not there, that still held true. The problem was that they were at a size and athleticism deficit at almost every position and matchup, and the Rockets just outjumped them, or simply beat them to rebound after rebound.

Source: Cleaning the Glass

If not for the Rockets’ turnovers, JJ Redick could have been punished for sticking with rotation that tried to counter Houston’s physicality with shooting and skill. On a night when Luke Kennard uncharacteristically missed both open threes, his 17 minutes really hurt the Lakers as Rockets wings crashed the glass from everywhere.

2-Luka the only Laker comfortable against Houston’s length (VIDEO)

One of my preview questions was how the Lakers would score against the Rockets’ super-long lineups full of great-to-good wing defenders.

Amen Thompson might be the most terrifying perimeter defender to go against, and Tari Eason is not far behind. The good news for the Lakers is that when Luka Dončić is on his game, that typically doesn’t matter that much. He’ll find a way to get a mismatch or create a half-step of separation via a screen, and then it’s more or less up to his shotmaking. The latter has been at a very high level lately, and it carried over into this game: Dončić made 8 of his first 12 shots, scored 23 by halftime, and finished with 36 points on 14-of-27 shooting.

The bad news was that nobody else seemed to find their comfort zone against the Rockets’ length. The rest of the team shot 17 of 45 from the floor on non-transition half-court shots.

Postgame, Redick talked about the challenge of scoring against the Rockets’ all-wing lineups without their only two weak links, Reed Sheppard and Clint Capela.

The Lakers got stuck in the mud to open the fourth, scoring only six points in the first nine minutes while going 0-for-9 from three. But then Dončić got a bucket over Thompson, and Smart, who had three of those nine misses, finally sank a huge triple with two minutes to go. Another one in a growing sample of his clutch daggers during this winning streak.

3-Deandre Ayton shows up late and wins the battle of Capelas

For the majority of the game, Deandre Ayton was more or less invisible again. Or, if I’m being a bit sarcastic, the original Capela looked much better than the facsimile the Lakers want Ayton to be.

Like in the prior game against the Nuggets, Redick benched Ayton for an extended stretch in the second half, only to sub him back in during the closing, critical part of the game.

Source: basketball-reference

And Ayton delivered when it mattered most by dominating the Rockets at their own game, collecting four of his six offensive rebounds and scoring six of his seven points in the final three and a half minutes of the game. In a game where neither team could find a way to score down the stretch, Ayton converting two putbacks was as important as Smart’s clutch three.

4-Lakers defense frustrates another star (VIDEO)

Another preview prediction came true, with Redick opting to get proactive by blitzing and doubling Kevin Durant for most of the game. To be fair, one does not have to be Nostradamus to see why making Durant a passer and decision-maker rather than a scorer is the right strategy, especially with the lack of playmaking around him. With Alperen Sengun missing the game with back problems, Sheppard was the only reliable playmaker and passer in Ime Udoka’s rotation.

And this game proved once again that KD is simply not the playmaker like Dončić or Nikola Jokić, who can dissect aggressive defenses with quick decisions and passing.

Some of Durant’s and the Rockets’ turnovers were just egregious decision-making, from eight-second to backcourt violations. But to the Lakers’ credit, it felt like they got better with their rotations and the timing of their double teams, making them less predictable and combining them with shifts and gap help rather than fully committing as the game wore on.

Durant’s terrible night, where he was held scoreless in the second half until a meaningless end-of-game layup while committing seven turnovers, was another in a line of superstars the Lakers’ defense has managed to throw off their game recently.

Lakers defense vs stars recently:

KD 7 turnovers
Jokić 4 turnovers, Murray 5 pts 1/14 FG
Ant 14 pts 2/15 FG
Brunson 7 turnovers
Jokić 9 turnovers

Wins vs HOU, DEN, MIN, NYK, DEN

HeroOfTheDay @Hero_OfThe_Day
“I don’t know man, maybe I just need to get out the way, go sit in the corner. Set some screens, space the floor…….”

Luka Doncic and the Lakers defense got Kevin Durant contemplating life as a role player
2:54 AM · Mar 17, 2026

5-Austin Reaves, we see you (VIDEO)

Austin Reaves has been on a roll scoring-wise recently, thriving in the newly established hierarchy as the undisputed second option. But last night he struggled against the Rockets’ length, being chased by Thompson for most of the night. Reaves shot 5 of 18, missed all eight of his threes, and had two attempts blocked.

However, Reaves didn’t let his shotmaking affect his effort and was the key force behind the Lakers’ second-half turnaround on the defensive end. The Lakers entered the game without the appropriate level of energy and force needed to answer the Rockets’ physicality, with the rare exception of Jake LaRavia (who had great hustle, but a rough offensive decision-making game with three turnovers in only 12 minutes of action).

The Lakers picked it up after the break, and it was Reaves who led by example, battling hard against Durant and collecting three of his four steals in the third quarter, when the Lakers started to set the terms with their defensive pressure.

Reaves was picked on a bit early in the game, with the longer Rockets going at him, but responded by playing aggressively, denying and fronting the much taller Durant, like he did against Jokić in the prior game.

Source: LakersMuse post on X

Reaves, Dončić, and James have picked up their effort and intensity on the defensive end in recent weeks, and the results are showing with the winning streak and a much more competent Lakers defense.