After stunning end to regular season, Lakers turn attention to Rockets

For six weeks, Lakers coach JJ Redick emphasized that the focus was on his team, not their variety of opponents, as they looked to build the right mentality for the playoffs.

That stopped being the case as soon as the final buzzer of the regular season went off after the Lakers beat the Jazz on Sunday night.

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The Lakers (53-29) have fully turned their attention and focus to the Rockets (52-30), whom they’ll match up against in the first round of the playoffs after finishing fourth and fifth in the Western Conference standings, respectively.

LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers handles the ball while defended by Kevin Durant of the Houston Rockets during the game on March 16, 2026 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NBAE via Getty Images

Game 1 is on Saturday (5:30 p.m.) at Crypto.com Arena.

The Rockets finished the regular season sixth in net rating (plus-5.4), while the Lakers finished 14th (plus-1.5).

They’re one of six teams that finished the regular season top-10 in both offensive rating (eighth) and defensive rating (sixth), which is typically a good marker for whether a team is a contender.

“Houston’s obviously a really, really good basketball team,” Redick said. “We’re going to prepare, and we’re going to fight and we’re going to go try to win a series.”

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Redick added: “We’re going to do everything we can to get our guys in a great frame of mind and great physical shape over the next four or five days and be ready to play.”

LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers drives to the basket during the game against the Phoenix Suns on April 10, 2026 at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. NBAE via Getty Images

An obvious storyline going into the playoff series will be LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant — a matchup between two of the greatest players of their generation.

It’ll mark the fourth time the legendary players meet up in the playoffs, and the first time in a non-NBA Finals series, after James’ Heat beat Durant’s Thunder in the 2012 Finals before Durant’s Warriors beat James’ Cavaliers in the ‘17 and ‘18 Finals.

For the Lakers, the…

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Publish date : 2026-04-13 23:08:00

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