LeBron James moved gingerly to the bench, grabbing at the inside of his left leg midway through the third quarter.
This, for the Lakers, was a possible worst-case scenario on a night when they could lock up their best-case scenario for the playoffs.
A win against the Rockets with Houston sitting 80% of its starting lineup would lock the Lakers into the No. 3 seed, giving them and their starters an extended rest heading into the first round of the playoffs that would begin in more than a week inside their building.
But losing James to a groin injury? That could puncture their championship dreams.
Without him, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves took turns barbecuing the reserve Rockets’ perimeter defense, but the Lakers needed their 40-year-old star to be OK.
In the fourth quarter after Reaves made rookie Jack McVeigh stumble, James celebrated the step-back by walking off the bench all the way to the basket, only to moonwalk his way back — one of a handful of times he celebrated in the Lakers’ 140-109 win — an outcome that ensures their season finale in Portland won’t have any impact on their postseason.
It’s the first time the Lakers have avoided the play-in tournament since 2020, when they last won a championship.
It just gives us a couple more days to be very prepared for whatever matchup we have,” Reaves said.
That means Sunday can be a day of rest for the Lakers’ stars while they wait to see who they’ll face in the playoffs, hosting a Game 1 in Los Angeles for the first time since the first round of the 2012 playoffs.
It’s expected the Lakers will rest as many of their key players as possible against the Trail Blazers.
Friday, in what likely was his regular-season finale, Doncic was sublime, scoring 39 points on only 19 shots in 31 minutes. Reaves had 23 points, Dorian Finney-Smith had 18 and Rui Hachimura had 16. James left the game after 22 minutes with 14 points and eight assists.
The Lakers shot 61% from the field during their 50th win. It was their best-shooting game of the season.
After the game the locker room erupted in celebration, the party so loud it could be heard through the walls. As JJ Redick met his players, they met him with ice buckets, dousing the rookie coach.
The whole locker room is literally the water,” Hachimura said. “Straight water.”
They had reason to celebrate before refocusing on the next chapter of their season.
“It’s an accomplishment to win 50 games in the regular season in any year,” Redick said. “I think particularly in this year, in this Western Conference, it is. And it’s a credit to our players. Each one at different points in time has contributed to winning. They’ve all participated in a winning culture.”
And the Lakers hope it’s a championship culture too.
“That’s gotta be [the] only goal, and that’s our only goal,” Doncic said. “ I think we have the team to do it. When everybody’s locked in, you know, we’re a hard team to beat.
“That’s our goal.”
