The Los Angeles Lakers sent their fans home happy with a 104-98 win against the Houston Rockets on Monday. It was a much-needed win for the Lakers as the team proved to be competitive against some of the top teams in the NBA. The Rockets are second in the Western Conference with a 49-27 record. After the win, Los Angeles’ head coach JJ Redick gave credit to two role players who played an important role in their win.
The Lakers were led by Luka Doncic, who had 20 points, six rebounds and nine assists on 37.5% shooting from the field. He had a hard time making shots because of the Rockets’ tough defense. Even Austin Reaves couldn’t make a 3-pointer and only scored 12 points.
40-year-old star LeBron James also didn’t have the best shooting night. James finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists on 41.7% shooting.
Fortunately for the Lakers’ stars, their teammates were ready to step up. The two role players who made the most of their time on the floor were Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent. Both players came off the bench and scored 20 points, apiece. Finney-Smith shot 54.5% from downtown and had six rebounds, two steals and three blocks. Vincent, meanwhile, made 46.2% of his 3-pointers and added four rebounds.
Redick credited the two players for their outstanding work to help the Lakers win the game.
“If you want to be a good basketball team, you need guys to star in their roles… We’ve had a number of guys on our team that have fully embraced their roles and it’s been the difference in our season,” Redick said.
JJ Redick on Gabe and DFS:
"If you want to be a good basketball team, you need guys to star in their roles… We've had a number of guys on our team that have fully embraced their roles and it's been the difference in our season."
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) April 1, 2025
The Lakers performed better as a team when it came to 3-point shooting. The Rockets finished with 31.3%, while they made 34.8%.
Doncic had jokes for his Los Angeles Lakers teammate
Since getting traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, Finney-Smith has not finished a game scoring at least 20 points. However, that changed on Monday against Houston, where he scored 20 for the first time for Los Angeles.
After the game, Doncic had some jokes for his teammate and longtime friend. The five-time All-Star told the media that he would take the initiative to shoot the ball if DFS became hesitant to shoot the basketball.
“I just told him today, if you don’t want to shoot it, I’ll shoot it,” Doncic said.
“He talks s**t in practice when he shoots with me so I don’t know why he doesn’t want to do it in the game.”
Luka got more jokes for DFS:
"He talks shit in practice when he shoots with me so I don't know why he doesn't want to do it in the game."
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) April 1, 2025
For the Los Angeles Lakers, Finney-Smith is shooting 37.5% from long range. The two-way forward has carried the momentum he had early in the season with the Brooklyn Nets. Before he arrived in LA, he shot 43.5% for the Nets.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
