LOS ANGELES — As news broke on Tuesday night that Kevin Durant’s status had been upgraded to available, the collective tension in Crypto.com Arena rose. The tone of seriousness, implications, and magnitude of the game completely changed.
Durant was an inferno in the first quarter, hitting every pull-up jump shot, but the purple and gold quickly countered. A back-and-forth rock fight ensued, both teams throwing haymakers in front of an electric crowd in the Crypto Arena.
Rockets head coach Ime Udoka,
understanding the severity of the situation, shortened Reed Sheppard’s minutes from 36 in Game 1 to just 11 in Game 2, leaving All-Star big man Alperen Şengün as the main mismatch left to exploit.
The Lakers and LeBron James attacked him mercilessly to take Game 2 and grab an early stranglehold on the series.
LA blew a 15-point lead in the second quarter to close the half, with Houston going in front early in the third quarter. The Rockets’ physical ball pressure defense started to sink its teeth in, forcing turnovers, late-clock shots and stagnant offense.
What followed in the second half was a surgical breakdown courtesy of vintage LeBron and ruthless mismatch hunting. LA scrapped every other action and put him at the top of the key with Deandre Ayton to repeatedly attack Şengün’s.
Houston under no circumstances wants to switch and leave Şengün stranded on an island with LeBron. They had him either “shock” the ball screen — meet at the level and attempt to return to the rolling big — or sit in traditional drop coverage.
Understanding this, head coach JJ Redick put sharpshooters Rui Hachimura and Luke Kennard in the corners and dared the Rockets to send help off one of them.
Watch below as LeBron runs the action with Ayton in the middle of the floor. Şengün meets him at the level of the second screen, no one tags Ayton as he rolls to the rim and he gets an easy finish off the pocket pass.
A few possessions later, they ran it again. Watch below as Şengün is in a traditional drop coverage defense, allowing LeBron to get downhill and easily find Ayton over the top with the lob.
He continued to dissect the defense, even getting a monstrous reverse dunk in the half-court on an easy blow-by and miscommunication.
Houston eventually surrendered to put two on the ball and blitz the screen to get the ball out of LeBron’s hand before he created an advantage. The instant LeBron sees the double coming towards him, he rifles a pass to the opposite corner to Hachimura for the 3-pointer.
The Lakers never trailed again after the brief third-quarter deficit, keeping Houston at bay the rest of the game. LeBron had five of his seven assists in the second half, constantly picking at the Şengün matchup.
The 41-year-old finished the game with 28 points and seven assists, masterfully controlling every possession whenever the Rockets threatened.
He’s not the only one to get loose and benefit from going at Şengün. Luke Kennard had back-to-back 20-point games, getting to his spots off of screens to finish an efficient 8-13 from the field. Marcus Smart joined in with an 8-13 night himself along with seven assists after tallying eight in Game 1.
The Lakers have a chance to go up 3-0 on Friday in Houston, a series lead that has never been lost. They’ve played a deliberate, mismatch-hunting offense in both wins, continuing to dare Houston to solve it. So far, they haven’t, and the Lakers will send them home embarrassingly early if they can’t.
You can follow Raj on X at @RajChipalu
