They didn’t have it last night in game five. The vet duo of LeBron James and Marcus Smart from the Los Angeles Lakers failed to regain the lead and outsmart the Houston Rockets Wednesday. Rockets’ Reed Sheppard took a page out of their book and turned the table on the Lakers in clutch time. But in order to win the series, the Lakers need to get back to what worked in the first three games, the one area where they kept coming out on top: basketball IQ.
There’s a reason why people always talk about
how important veterans are in basketball. In the playoffs, it’s even more the case, and we’re seeing proof of that right before our eyes in the Los Angeles Lakers-Houston Rockets first round playoff series.
As the Lakers went up 3-0 last week without Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic (oblique and hamstring strain), it was in no small part due to the basketball IQ and experience of the two vets on the team: Marcus Smart and LeBron James.
In the playoffs, the smallest details, margins and decisions can make or break a possession, a quarter or a game – ultimately a series. One possession can result in a change in momentum that ends up winning you the game. Being one game up can switch the momentum of a series completely. And here, playoff experience making quick decisions in that type of high-pressure environment can be a deciding factor.
A great example is a much-talked about possession in game three. The Lakers were down three with 25.4 left of the game. LeBron James goes up to press and manages to poke the ball away. Marcus Smart secures the loose ball and passes it quickly back to James, who ends up making a three to tie the game and send it to overtime, which the Lakers comfortably win.
But what came before this was even more impressive. With 33 seconds left, the Rockets had a chance to close the game up six 95-101. Just listen to the commentators. The Lakers needed a stop at this point to even have a shot at turning the tide, and Smart knows. He starts to pressure and steals the ball, then shoots a quick three and gets fouled. Three free throws and the Lakers go from being down six with 33 seconds left to being down three with 25 seconds left.
James’ three next possession tied the game and they eventually secured the win. And remarkably the vet duo was almost entirely behind the whole thing. An incredible example of how good decision-making, high basketball IQ and understanding of the game can affect winning directly.
LeBron James, 41, famously won four championships with three different teams through his 23 NBA seasons. Marcus Smart, 32, may not be considered a superstar like James, but he has substantial experience and playoff acumen from his time on the Boston Celtics with multiple Eastern Conference finals and an NBA Final on his resume. All of that experience clearly has translated well on this team of hard workers, as well as with an aging superstar.
His connection with James has been nothing short of impressive, exemplified throughout this series. James made sure to point this out too after the viral meme of him communicating with only facial expressions during one of the first games. That was to Smart.
“You guys seen the meme after Game 1. I can look at him and he can know what the hell I’m talking about.”
When someone knows what the hell you’re talking about without having to spell it out, it’s a sure sign of chemistry and basketball IQ. And the two of them have linked up in a way that other teams could only dream of.
Just look at the connection that goes before this perfect lob from Smart to James in a crucial clutch possession in game three again:
Leading the defensive effort and getting stops, Smart has obviously been both very important to James and his performance during this round, as well as to the team. Knowing when to act and adjust, and having the trust of his teammates makes him invaluable to this team.
When athleticism is dwarfed by IQ
Only the best stay around long enough to become vets in the NBA, and as time passes they have to adjust their game and play style. Everyone will eventually lose the raw athleticism they may have had earlier in their career – or at least see it be diminished by age and injuries – and have to rely more on their basketball IQ.
That’s one of the reasons most vets are considered intelligent basketball players, because just being able to stay in the league and then understanding how to adjust after your peak makes for high basketball IQ, as well as experience, which plays a large part, too.
And players understanding the push and pulls of a game, the importance of when to pounce, when to slow down and how to change the momentum is that special sauce that makes a basketball game – and especially a playoff series – so exciting to watch.
Here’s another clutch possession by the duo, but from game two. Marcus Smart with the steal, followed by an offensive possession where they slow down the pace, just to pick it up with a quick back door cut and a perfect pass by Smart to James. Again.
Marcus Smart’s performance in the first games of the 2026 playoffs is a great example of how small intangibles that don’t always make the stat sheet can affect a game and winning directly. So if you’re looking at the box score to give you an impression of a game, let Smart be a reminder that it’s in between the numbers that the magic actually happens.
