With Bruce Springsteen sitting courtside, the Lakers didn’t have to “Prove it All Night”, just for three quarters. Los Angeles led by 22 points at halftime after putting up 78 points and they led by 20 after three quarters on their way to a 140-109 win over the Houston Rockets last Friday night at Crypto.com Arena.
That victory secured the Lakers the #3 seed in the West and guaranteed themselves home court advantage in the first round of the NBA playoffs. They’ll host Game 1 in Los Angeles for the first time since 2012 against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday, April 19.
Luka Doncic scored 39 points making 13 out of19 field goals in 31 minutes. He also grabbed eight rebounds and seven assists, and he did not play in the fourth quarter as Laker coach JJ Redick rested his star with the game in hand. “This is going to be my first time having home court advantage so I’m looking forward to it,” Doncic said after never having that advantage while playing for Dallas.
LeBron James played just 22 minutes and left the game in the middle of the third quarter after appearing to re-aggravate his left groin. “He’s fine,” Lakers Redick said after the game.
The Lakers scored a season-high 140 points and shot a season-high 61.6% from the field. Austin Reaves added 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Dorian Finney-Smith contributed 18 points off the bench on making 6 out of eight shots from 3-point range, and Rui Hachimura scored 16 points making six out of eight field goals.
Having already locked up the #2 spot in the West, the Rockets played without the majority of their rotation players and the one starter who did see action, Jalen Green played for just 15 minutes, all in the first half.
With the regular season coming to an end on Sunday, there was time for reflection. “I feel like this year has been 5 years in total, but then again it feels like it just started at the same time, Reaves said. “As much as this group has been through, every time we hit any type of adversity we bounce back and that’s all you can ask for.”
There was also time to look ahead to the playoffs, especially with the potential to have over a week off for Doncic before his first Lakers postseason game.
“Big time, big time,” Doncic said of the break. “I gotta get some rest obviously but the good part of the season is coming so gotta stay ready, gotta stay locked in, but for sure a little bit of rest is gonna be great for me.”
After the game, Redick said the team dumped eight ice buckets on him in celebration. As he sat in the postgame press conference wearing a Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt, he jokingly estimated there was $17 thousand dollars of damage to the locker room.
“Incredibly proud of our team,” Redick said. “It’s an accomplishment to win 50 games in the regular season any year, but particularly this year in this Western Conference.”
Coach’s Corner:
After a sloppy possession against the Dallas Mavericks a few nights ago that went viral on social media, Redick had some words for the team in the locker room Friday night to not let it happen again.
“I warned them at halftime to continue to play the right way and that there would be fines if there were any possessions that looked like the Dallas possession the other night, Redick said. “They came close, but I think they’re all going to keep their money.”