Entering their first-round playoff series with the Rockets , the Lakers knew they had to take away their opponent's superpower.
During the regular season, the Rockets averaged an astonishing 15 offensive rebounds per game — the most in the NBA and the most by a team in 25 years. They also forced an average of 13 turnovers per game. Layer those together and you're not just playing an opponent, you're playing a second invisible game that is allowing them more shots, more chaos and more chances to bury you.
Through the first four games of the series, the Lakers were losing that game badly.
Deandre Ayton finished with 16 rebounds in the series-clinching Game 6 victory. NBAE via Getty Images
They gave up 21 offensive rebounds in Game 1. Then 17. Then 18. Their turnovers were piling up like traffic on the 110 freeway. 18, 20, 20 and then 23 turnovers in Game 4. By the time the dust settled, Houston had accrued 69 more possessions than the Lakers across the first four games.
And yet somehow, despite flirting with disaster, and dancing with bad habits, the Lakers built a 3-1 series lead while hemorrhaging the very thing that defines playoff basketball: extra possessions.
Which tells you everything you need to know: They were surviving these games, not solving them.
"In order for us to win, we had to protect the ball and rebound," LeBron James said. "We understood that giving them extra possessions is a kryptonite for any team. If you give them extra possessions and you don't take care of the ball, it's not going to be an ingredient for success against Houston."
In Game 5, something shifted.
The Lakers didn't just compete on the glass — they punched back. They outrebounded Houston 41-34, and more importantly, they flipped the offensive rebound battle for the first time in the series, 13-6.
What changed from the first four games?
Ayton, who has had an up-and-down season, showed up when the Lakers needed him most. Getty Images
Ayton played like a man who finally understood his assignment.
He finished with 18 points, 17 rebounds and two blocks. He became the first Lakers player to have 15 or more points, 15 or more rebounds and at least two blocks in a playoff game since Pau Gasol in 2010. He also was the first Laker since Gasol in 2012 to have 10 offensive rebounds.
"You have to have some type of stop sign where enough is enough," Ayton said. "I just tried to play as I am, the biggest dude on the court, and just go out and get every damn rebound."
And that's exactly what he did.
Even though they won the rebounding battle, they couldn't get out of their own way. They shot 25% from 3 and lost the turnover battle again. They also lost the game 99-93, leaving the door open for a historic collapse.
But in Game 6, they finally slammed it shut.
Ayton averaged 11.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game in the first-round series vs. the Rockets. AP
Inside hostile territory in Houston, the Lakers finally put it all together for one game. They executed the game plan to perfection. They ended the Rockets' season with a 98-78 victory .
They secured 15 offensive rebounds, their highest total of the series. They allowed only eight. They once again outrebounded the Rockets, 54-45. And for the first time all series, they won the turnover battle, committing just 10.
"I challenged them before the game to box out and have their lowest turnover game tonight," coach JJ Redick said. "The attention to detail was the important thing."
That's coach-speak for this: They finally did what I've been asking them to do all series.
Houston scored just 78 points — the lowest output by any team this entire postseason. Their superpower didn't just disappear. It was taken away from them.
Ripped out of their hands by a Lakers team that decided, finally, that enough was enough.
Once again, Ayton was the anchor. He pulled down 16 rebounds and controlled the paint like it was his own personal property.
"He played his ass off … he was locked in from the start to the finish," said Marcus Smart of Ayton's performance.
In Game 5, Ayton finished with 18 points, 17 rebounds, and two blocks. He became the first Lakers player to have 15+ points, 15+ rebounds, and at least two blocks in a playoff game since Pau Gasol in 2010. Erik Williams-Imagn Images
Austin Reaves , fresh off a four-week absence because of an oblique injury, saw it the same way.
"I told him he was one of the biggest factors for us winning tonight … his physicality …16 rebounds is a big number."
Ayton's effort finally flipped the script, but it wasn't just about him. The entire series was a team effort. Game 6 was about discipline, restraint and a veteran team choosing to take control over the narrative.
"That's the story of this playoff series for us," Redick said. "Each guy had moments that helped us win the game. I thought the collective tonight was awesome."
It took a while, but the Lakers finally figured out how to take away the Rockets' greatest strength and beat them with it.
Now they're tasked with doing it again against the reigning champion Thunder.
Only the Thunder don't have one superpower, they have several.
And if the Lakers want to shock the world and upset the champs, they'll need to take away all of them. To do that, they'll have to play every possession like it's their last.
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