Rockets playoff preview: 5 questions they must answer against Lakers

About a month ago, the Houston Rockets had to deal with their biggest reality check of the season. It came after back-to-back losses to the Los Angeles Lakers at home on March 16 and March 18. In the first loss, Kevin Durant and the Rockets melted down in the fourth quarter, throwing away a winnable game. In the second loss, Luka Dončić exploded for 40 points, including a couple of massive 3-pointers in the final minutes to close out another clutch win. In those two games, the Lakers made it very clear that they were ascending to serious championship-contender status, while the Rockets were not yet at that level. Luckily for Houston, a lot can change in a month. Since then, the Rockets have played their best basketball of the season, winning 11 of their final 14 regular-season games, including an eight-game winning streak that helped rebuild this team’s confidence. Meanwhile, in an April 2 loss to Oklahoma City, the Lakers lost Dončić after he suffered a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, and they lost second-leading scorer Austin Reaves to a Grade 2 left oblique muscle strain. The Lakers have already confirmed both Dončić and Reaves will miss the start of the series, and there’s a chance neither one of them sees the court for at least a few more weeks. These teams are suddenly in a much different place as they are set to collide in one of the most intriguing, yet bizarre, first-round matchups in this year’s playoffs. Of course, some significant storylines will dominate this series (i.e., the best players on each side combining for more than 76,000 career points). However, there will be a lot of talk about what this series could’ve been if the Lakers hadn’t suffered such devastating injuries before the playoffs began. Either way, the pressure will be on the Rockets to handle their business and put the undermanned Lakers away sooner rather than later. Here are five of the most important questions they’ll have to answer before the end of this series. Does Kevin Durant have to outperform LeBron James? Regardless of how this series ends, it’s impossible to undersell how thrilling it’ll be to watch two of the best in NBA history go at it one more — if not, the final — time in a playoff series, especially considering both guys are still performing at such a high level during this stage in their respective careers. With Dončić and Reaves out, James’ usage will go up significantly, and he’s probably going to put up some huge numbers, even if the Rockets do throw a bunch of bodies at him to wear him down. In particular, James undoubtedly knows that the only chance the Lakers have to win this series — or at least extend it long enough to give Dončić and Reaves a chance to return — is by winning one of, if not both of their games at home to begin this series. James will approach Games 1 and 2 as if the entire season depends on them. Does this mean Durant needs to match his impact? Not exactly Durant’s right knee contusion, which popped up on the injury report Friday afternoon, will certainly be something to keep an eye on. As long as he looks like his normal self, it’s going to be pivotal for Durant to maintain the mindset that he doesn’t need to think about going toe-to-toe with James to win this series. It doesn’t matter. What’s more important is Durant embracing that he has the better team in this series and having his younger co-stars leading the way is the easiest path to putting the Lakers away. Not to mention, it would be the best outcome for Houston’s path forward in the playoffs. With Dončić and Reaves out, the Rockets should have a sizable advantage on the perimeter with their athleticism and ability to attack mismatches. Durant needs to keep it simple. Are turnovers going to be a problem? This is an essential part of figuring out how Houston will fare in this series. Throughout the season, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka and his players have echoed the same sentiment: Houston is at its very worst when it allows opponents to slow it down on offense, which usually results in stagnant ball movement and awful turnovers. This particularly jumped off the page during the Lakers’ 100-92 win over the Rockets on March 16, which included a whopping nine turnovers in the fourth quarter. That fourth quarter might have been some of the ugliest basketball Houston played between the two teams. That game ended up being the turning point for the Rockets and their offense. Since then, the ball movement and the body movement within Houston’s half-court sets have been better. Durant and his All-Star companion, Alperen Şengün, have been especially dominant on the offensive end. And, above all, the turnovers have dropped. Overall, the Rockets have 14 games with 20-plus turnovers, which is the fourth-most by any team this season. They went 6-8 in those games. The Lakers will be throwing out various trap defenses and zone looks to keep Durant and Şengün off balance. It’s going to be the Rockets’ job to come more prepared for those defenses than they were on March 16. Is Amen Thompson ready to level up? The one Rockets player who hasn’t received enough love about how good he’s been heading into the playoffs has to be Thompson. In recent weeks, the 23-year-old has come into his own as a point guard, and his overall comfort on the offensive end has gone up a level. The Rockets need him to keep impacting the game the way he has on both ends of the floor to give them a distinct advantage in this series. This is the one guy the Lakers don’t have an answer for. His explosiveness and versatility on offense will give Los Angeles fits if he stays aggressive. In his last 12 outings, Thompson is averaging 20.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists while shooting 60 percent from the floor. His final appearance of the regular season turned out to be perhaps the best game he’s ever played. Despite suffering a 136-132 loss to the Timberwolves, Thompson finished with a career-high 41 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. He joined Ja Morant and Jarrett Allen as the only players to score 40-plus points in a game this season without making a 3-pointer. Thompson is capable of getting shots at the rim whenever he feels like it. He attacks in transition. He scores in isolation situations. He operates out of the dunker spot as a pressure release when Şengün posts up. Since the start of last season, he’s shown he can be a special talent on the floor. However, based on how he’s looked lately, it all seems to be coming together. Every year, the first round of the playoffs features at least one or two young stars who explode and announce themselves as a name that more casual fans should be aware of. Thompson should be high on the list of potential breakout candidates. If he does, I expect the Rockets to handle this series easily. This is another great way for Houston to control the pace in this series and impose their will against a Lakers team that will need some time to adjust to the physicality of the playoffs. The groups Los Angeles plans on putting out there have not dealt with the pressures of playoff basketball. This Rockets team has been one of the elite offensive rebounding units all season, but I expect to see more Josh Okogie and Tari Eason in this series as potential wings who can defend James. Along with their defensive prowess, both Okogie and Eason excel at attacking the offensive glass and creating new possessions. Clint Capela should also get some run in this series as he gets to match up as the backup five when Jaxson Hayes enters the game. If Houston can dominate the offensive glass this series, it would swing the possession battle in its favor. Also, it would give them the psychological advantage against a Lakers group that, once again, has to lean on guys who aren’t used to carrying this kind of burden. If this series turns into the rugged, football-with-no-pads style of basketball that Udoka loves, are guys such as Luke Kennard, Rui Hachimura and Jake LaRavia ready for that type of physical challenge in a potential seven-game series? Scoring in the paint shouldn’t be an issue for Houston. However, if it can dominate the offensive glass on top of that, it’ll put the Lakers back on their heels. As I mentioned earlier in the turnovers section, Redick is going to be throwing everything out there, at least in the first few games, in hopes of finding advantages. Considering how much offensive production will be missing with Dončić and Reaves out, Redick will be looking for any sparks. There will be different defensive looks. Some rotation changes. Maybe even a few things we haven’t seen before. In those back-to-back games against the Lakers, Udoka was slow to react and put his team in a better position. He can’t afford to make that mistake this time around.