All season long, when faced with adversity, the Lakers have responded.
When LeBron James missed the first 14 games due to sciatica, LA went 10-4 in his absence. After both Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves went down late in the season, the Lakers fought hard to keep the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference.
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LA started the playoffs without Austin or Luka, but just kept on winning. They went up 3-0 in their series against the Rockets, only for Houston to respond with two wins, forcing a Game 6. The purple and gold ensured there would not be a Game 7.
It was the Lakers who went on a dominant second-quarter run and took over, putting the game to bed.
Things will only get harder as they will now play the defending champs, but if we’ve learned one thing about the 2025-26 Lakers, they’ll fight as hard as possible to find success.
So, they’ll be underdogs again, but that’s a position they’ve excelled in under JJ Redick’s.
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So, let’s dive into the win. As always, grades are based on expectations for each player. A “B” grade represents the average performance for that player.
LeBron James
37 minutes, 28 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 turnovers, 2 fouls, 10-25 FG, 2-5 3PT, 6-8 FT, +26
The Lakers needed LeBron to be great and he delivered. James started aggressively by scoring inside, knocking down threes and handing out a slew of assists with just one turnover in the first half.
Thanks to his play, LA got out in front early and never looked back. LeBron remained on the attack throughout the game, and yes, at age 41, he was the best player on the court.
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Take a bow, king!
Grade: A+
Rui Hachimura
35 minutes, 21 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 2 fouls, 8-15 FG, 5-7 3PT, +20
There is a reason Redick was so reluctant to bench Hachimura during the regular season. He is as clutch as they come, has good size, and is one of the best shot-makers in the NBA.
All of this was on display in Game 6.
This was one of the best games Rui has ever had as a Laker. With the series momentum leaning in favor of Houston, Hachimura tipped the scales back in LA’s favor.
He was an unstoppable shooter, going 5-7 from 3-point range. The only thing more demoralizing than his shot-making was the million-dollar smile he had while jogging back on defense.
Grade: A+
28 minutes, 7 points, 16 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 5 fouls, 2-6 FG, 3-7 FT, +5
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I had to triple-check the rebounding numbers for Ayton. It’s unreal that he had 16 boards in an elimination game. He did a solid job defending Şengün when he had that assignment and did the little things that impacted winning.
A hilarious moment came when NBA official Scott Foster tried to ensure Ayton didn’t get an unfair advantage in a jump ball and kept restarting the play. It didn’t matter, as Ayton still won the tip.
In this series, Ayton has been excellent, and Game 6 was no exception.
Grade: B+
35 minutes, 7 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 2-7 FG, 2-4 3PT, 1-2 FT, +25
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Smart proved he could handle some on-ball duties for this team in these intense games. This wasn’t the case in Game 5 when he had way too many turnovers.
Smart acknowledged this and improved dramatically in this contest. He had a plus-minus of +25, which was the second highest on the team.
Grade: B
Austin Reaves
31 minutes, 15 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers, 3 fouls, 7-14 FG, 0-4 3PT, 1-1 FT, +3
Reaves showed flashes of who he is in this game.
He had a nice spin move layup, was driving inside and his three blocks demonstrated his aggressiveness defensively. Reaves is clearly not 100% just yet, but he found ways to impact the game and was a good offensive initiator for the team.
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Grade: B-
29 minutes, 3 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 1 foul, 1-6 FG, 1-2 3PT, +22
Okay, Kennard has regressed to his mean, but that’s not the worst thing. He can still be a positive on offense, but that monster Game 1 performance is likely a thing of the past.
Grade: B
17 minutes, 5 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover, 2 fouls, 1-1 FG, 3-4 FT, +21
After an awful Game 5, Hayes had a bounce-back performance in Game 6. He held his own on his defensive assignments and even got to the line and hit some free throws.
The Lakers needed Hayes to eat up some big man minutes, and he not only did so but was a net positive for the team during his shifts.
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Grade: B
16 minutes, 7 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls, 3-8 FG, 1-2 3PT, +2
This was the best game LaRavia has had this postseason. He held his own defensively, shot well from deep, and had some momentum-shifting plays like his dunk midway through the second quarter.
Grade: B+
This quartet played a short shift in garbage time so they will not be getting a grade.
JJ Redick
Redick stuck with a tight eight-man rotation and it paid off. He did the right thing by taking Jarred Vanderbilt out and leaning on his offensive players to get this win.
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No longer doubling Şengün, they dared him to win his matchups and he couldn’t. This was a tremendous improvement from last year, when Redick did ridiculous things like making no subs in the second half and effectively playing no bigs late in the series.
This is 2026, and Redick learned who to trust, not to panic and, instead of blowing a 3-0 lead, they won a series many, myself included, didn’t think they could win.
Grade: A
Friday’s DNPs: Maxi Kleber, Jarred Vanderbilt
Friday’s inactives: Luka Dončić
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
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