Following the first matchup of any playoff series, both teams, win or lose, return to the drawing board and strategize what they can take forward in future contests.
For the Lakers, missing their star shot creators in Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves means the offense will be a journey every night. The regular season numbers and what created success are completely thrown out the window in their absence.
What the team can lean on is its defense and it showed why its improvement in the second half of the season
was no fluke in Game 1 against the Houston Rockets, even it came against a Rockets side missing a superstar of its own in Kevin Durant.
LA jumped from 23rd to 14th in defensive rating post All-Star break. They headed into the playoffs with real synergy and cohesion on that end while following specific game plans specifically tethered to different superstars.
The purple and gold held their opponent under 100 points for just the eighth time this season on Saturday. Without Durant, LA’s defensive focus shifted and keyed in on first-time All-Star Alperen Şengün.
As with other star bigs across the league, LA switched and fronted the post while maintaining a high level of physicality throughout the game.
It started early in the first quarter. Watch below as Deandre Ayton begins on Şengün. A screen comes from Amen Thompson with the Lakers switching the action. LeBron fronts the post while Marcus Smart gives textbook backside help.
The ball swings out to the perimeter while the Lakers close out and run them off the 3-point line. The play ends with a Houston turnover due to an offensive three-second violation.
As with most offensive bigs, the only player the Lakers allowed Şengün to get single coverage against was Ayton. Finishing with 19 points, 11 rebounds and one block does not do justice to the defensive night LA’s starting big man had, clearly winning his head-to-head matchup.
He collected the Şengün body bumps, moving his feet without going for fakes and contesting high, as shown in the clip below
Sengun missed eight straight shots at one point, finishing just 6-19 from the floor with three turnovers.
“We did a good job of contesting those six-to-eight-foot shots without fouling using our length,” head coach J.J. Redick said postgame. “I thought [Ayton], Jaxson, Bron, Rui, Vando, all those guys, Jake, just getting a contest is super important.”
The other player LA knew they needed to slow down was Thompson. A supreme athlete that can get to the paint at will, the First Team All-Defense guard shot up the scouting report without Durant.
LA made sure to create a wall anytime he drove, contesting his shots at the basket on his straight-line drives, picking him up early in transition and attempting to bait him into jump shots.
Watch below as Thompson runs a screen with Tari Eason, this time switching LeBron on to him. He drives to the basket and is met by 41-year-old LeBron recovering to pin it off the backboard with Hachimura right there to offer extra help at the rim.
Thompson missed all three of his shots outside the paint and finished just 3-8 in the restricted area over LA’s rim protection. LA ended up holding Houston to just 37.6% overall, 33% from the 3-point line and just 43% in the restricted area, per NBA stats.
“I felt like the second efforts on the defensive end, it really got us moving a little bit,” Ayton said. “We are taking pride with this new team having our superstars out creating on the defensive end to start our offense and get us moving and just get us an offensive rhythm and get the crowd in it a little bit.”
While everything hinges on Durant’s availability on Tuesday, the Rockets and head coach Ime Udoka will make adjustments to what the Lakers offered on defense. They will look to continue on their massive offensive rebound advantage and leverage Sengun as more of a ball handler in different spots on the floor.
Game 1’s are feel-outs, but Game 2 is where the tension of a series begins. The Lakers look to take a commanding 2-0 series lead and will have to do so by leading the way with their defense.
You can follow Raj on X at @RajChipalu
