Bontemps/Windhorst’s Latest: Pistons, Giannis, Kawhi, More
After averaging 22.6 points and 10.7 rebounds per game on 67.8% shooting following the All-Star break, Pistons center Jalen Duren has struggled to make an impact during the postseason. Duren is putting up just 10.1 PPG and 8.3 RPG through 12 playoff games and was benched in the fourth quarter and overtime of Detroit’s Game 5 loss on Wednesday in favor of Paul Reed.
Duren’s poor postseason play has the potential to complicate his contract negotiations with the Pistons when he reaches restricted free agency this summer, notes ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
“He’s not a max player, but they’re probably going to have to give him the max,” one Eastern Conference executive told ESPN. “Because now teams (with cap room) like Chicago or Brooklyn might see him as someone they could get with a max offer sheet and Detroit will have to match. With the new apron rules, it might come back to bite (the Pistons), and it’s just another example of how the CBA crushes team building.”
The Pistons will also face a tricky negotiation this offseason with wing Ausar Thompson, who will be eligible for a rookie scale extension ahead of his fourth NBA season. Thompson is a defensive dynamo but remains a very limited offensive player who made six three-pointers all season and converted just 57.1% of his free throws. Like Duren, he has been benched in some clutch-time situations during the postseason.
Still, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, some league insiders he spoke to about Thompson predicted the Defensive Player of the Year finalist could command an extension in the range of $25MM per year, the same average annual salary that Dyson Daniels (four years, $100MM) and Christian Braun (five years, $125MM) got on their rookie scale extensions last fall.
Here’s more league-wide chatter from Windhorst and Bontemps:
- While there have been a few false alarms on the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade front, there’s a growing belief around the NBA that the Bucks will actually trade their two-time MVP this offseason, Bontemps reports. “It just feels like they’re done with the circus, more than anything,” an Eastern Conference executive told ESPN. “They seem to want a clean break and to move on.”
- Most sources who spoke to Bontemps at this week’s draft combine in Chicago about the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard believe the team should retain its star forward as he enters the final year of his current contract. However, not everyone agreed on whether or not to extend him — one scout pointed out that Leonard “clearly” wants to be in L.A. and argued the club should be no rush to lock him up, while another expressed that an extension is the right move as long as the terms “make sense for the team.” One Eastern Conference executive also suggested to Windhorst that Leonard could have significant trade value if the Clippers are willing to make him available: “Every day you hear about what’s going to happen with Giannis, but everyone ignores that Kawhi has been better and healthier over the last two seasons. If you had a chance to acquire one or the other, I might go Kawhi.”
- Despite the fact that the Sixers have a pair of pricey multiyear contracts on their books for injury-prone veterans Joel Embiid and Paul George, their head of basketball operations job is viewed as “enticing” due to the Tyrese Maxey/VJ Edgecombe backcourt duo, several executives told Windhorst at the combine.
- The general consensus at the combine was that returning to the Lakers is the most likely outcome for LeBron James this summer, since it’s “hard to fit him anywhere” else, as one Western Conference scout told Bontemps. An East executive who spoke to Windhorst indicated he’d be willing to pay James whatever he wanted on a one-year deal if he were running the Lakers. “Give him the no-trade clause,” the exec said. “Everything (Lakers owner Mark) Walter has done so far has been about good business. LeBron sells tickets. He keeps the (local) TV partner happy. Re-signing LeBron is good business.”
Lakers Notes: LeBron, Reaves, Doncic, Front Office
Speaking to reporters at his end-of-season press conference on Tuesday, Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka confirmed that the team would welcome back LeBron James if he wants to re-sign in free agency, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. Pelinka pointed out that “any team, including ours” would love to have James on its roster.
“We probably haven’t seen a player that has honored the game to the extent that he’s honored the game,” Pelinka said. “He’s given so much to his teammates, to this organization. And the thing we want to do more than anything else is honor him back.
“… The first order of business there is allowing him to spend the time he needs to decide what his next steps are. Does he want to play another year in the NBA? And that’ll be [decided through] family time, I think time with his inner circle. And we just want to honor that for him.”
As McMenamin writes in a separate story, James and the Lakers haven’t always seen eye to eye — LeBron believes the team has taken him for granted at times, and a source close to him suggests Los Angeles tried to “push him out the door” after acquiring Luka Doncic last year. However, their relationship was described as mostly “harmonious” during the 2025/26 season, according to McMenamin, who says it could be in both sides’ best interests to keep it going.
As McMenamin writes, the last time James signed with Los Angeles, he took a little less than the max and conveyed that he would’ve been willing to take a bigger pay cut if the team had been able to land one of the free agent targets on his wish list. That precedent suggests the 41-year-old will be “reasonable” in contract talks this offseason, though a source familiar with James’ thinking tells ESPN that he won’t just be seeking a specific dollar figure and that the Lakers’ approach to negotiations will matter.
“The Lakers can’t just offer James a number. They have to offer a why behind that number,” one agent told McMenamin. “Their plan for any discount would have to be coherent.”
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- In addition to addressing James’ upcoming free agency, Pelinka also expressed strong interest on Tuesday in re-signing Austin Reaves if he declines his option in favor of free agency, which is considered a lock. “He started his journey here as a Laker and has made it very clear to us that he wants his journey to continue as a Laker,” Pelinka said, according to McMenamin. “And we feel the same way. We want his odyssey to continue to unfold in the purple and gold. … Both sides have made it abundantly clear that we want to work something out where he continues his prolific career here.”
- Lakers head coach JJ Redick, who also appeared at Tuesday’s presser, told reporters that his goals for next saeson are to improve the defense and develop a stronger, more reliable bench. He also echoed Pelinka’s message about bringing back James and Reaves alongside Doncic. “We want that core to be back together,” Redick said. “All three of those guys showed a lot of growth this year. I think a lot has been made about Luka’s fitness level and his dedication to that. He was great throughout the season. He’s still in fantastic shape six weeks after an injury. But he’s also grown as a leader.”
- Pelinka confirmed that building a roster that complements Doncic and maximizes his strengths is the Lakers’ top priority, as Dan Woike of The Athletic relays. “The archetype of the roster that we want is going to be retrofitted around Luka and the things he needs,” Pelinka said. “Clearly, he’s that leader and that player for the future that we want to build the right way around.”
- Pelinka told reporters, including Thuc Nhi Nguyen of The Los Angeles Times, that the team plans to hire two assistant general manager this offseason and has already begun interviewing for those positions. One of those two new hires will focus on pro and draft scouting and player development, while the other would be on the strategy side, with a focus on analytics and the salary cap. “It’s not that we’ve had holes in those places,” Pelinka said. “We got a great team of people that works incredibly hard. It’s just we want to add more to that.”
Lakers Rumors: Doncic, Reaves, LeBron, Offseason
Although the Lakers began to believe during a 16-2 run in the second half of the season that their roster was good enough to compete with the Thunder and contend for a title, running back a “mostly similar” group in 2026/27 isn’t viewed as a viable option, team and league sources tell Sam Amick and Dan Woike of The Athletic. Even if Luka Doncic had been available for the second-round series vs. Oklahoma City, the general sense is that the Lakers need more firepower to match up with the NBA’s very best team(s).
“We just don’t have enough good players,” one locker room source told The Athletic.
As Amick and Woike detail, the Lakers told Doncic after they acquired him that they wanted to build a roster around him that looked similar – and ideally better – than the one he had in Dallas during the Mavericks’ 2024 NBA Finals run. That’s still the goal, which means Los Angeles’ front office will be looking to upgrade at the five – ideally by adding an elite lob threat – as well as ensuring the roster features more two-way wings and a secondary play-maker to complement Doncic.
Austin Reaves is the most obvious fit for that latter role, and Doncic has made it clear to the Lakers that he’d like to continue playing with Reaves, according to Amick and Woike, who hear from league sources that the Slovenian star told people within the organization that he’d be opposed to including Reaves in a trade package for Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. Still, while Doncic would prefer to play alongside Reaves and another star, acquiring that star without including Reaves would be a challenge, given the Lakers’ relative lack of valuable trade assets.
This past season, LeBron James was that third star alongside the two high-scoring guards, and it’s possible he’ll stick with the Lakers for another year — the two sides have mutual interest in extending their relationship, sources tell The Athletic. While L.A. could open up about $50MM in cap room in the event LeBron departs, that figure assumes Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart pick up their player options rather than seeking raises and doesn’t account for new deals for Luke Kennard or Rui Hachimura, whom the Lakers have interest in retaining.
[RELATED: LeBron James: ‘I Don’t Know What The Future Holds For Me’]
If LeBron and some of those other players return and the Lakers end up operating over the cap, team sources believe there are still avenues for real improvement, Amick and Woike write, with the club expected to be aggressive on the trade market using this year’s No. 25 overall pick and tradable first-rounders in 2031 and 2033.
Here’s more on the Lakers as they prepare for an eventful offseason:
- Although Doncic’s hamstring injury was reported to be a Grade 2 strain following an MRI in Dallas, further evaluation in Spain revealed a “deeper and more severe” injury, according to Amick and Woike. Doncic acknowledged after the Lakers were eliminated that he wasn’t close to returning and that he was still a week or two away from taking contact, per Greg Beacham of The Associated Press. However, The Athletic’s duo says he’s pain-free in his hamstring, adding that the injury shouldn’t have a major impact on the guard’s offseason routine.
- As Beacham relays, Doncic announced on social media on Monday night that he won’t play for the Slovenian national team this summer because he wants to spend time with his daughters as he works toward acquiring joint custody. “Right now, my daughters and my responsibilities as a father are my priority,” he wrote.
- The ability to win and contend will be a “significant factor” for Reaves as he considers his free agent options this summer, league sources tell Amick and Woike. According to The Athletic’s duo, rival executives have predicted that Reaves’ next contract could be worth $40MM annually, though it remains unclear which clubs the Lakers might be bidding against. The Bulls and Nets are the only teams projected to have that kind of cap room, while other teams believed to have interest in Reaves, including the Jazz and Hawks, would need to either shed salary or negotiate a sign-and-trade to make that sort of offer.
- While Amick and Woike say the Lakers are expected to explore possible Antetokounmpo trade scenarios this offseason, Mirjam Swanson of The Los Angeles Times explains why she’s advising against pursuing the two-time MVP.
- Within their larger story on the Lakers’ summer, Amick and Woike also explore the franchise’s decision to move its G League affiliate from Los Angeles to Coachella Valley, noting that not having the NBA and NBAGL teams practice in the same building could make things a bit harder for the basketball operations staff. Multiple G League business operations employees were also laid off as part of the move, per The Athletic, though the Lakers are anticipating an increase in revenue as the G League team relocates to a bigger venue in a new market. That additional revenue will be used, in part, to fund infrastructure upgrades to the Lakers’ personnel, scouting, and medical departments, according to Amick and Woike.
LeBron James: ‘I Don’t Know What The Future Holds For Me’
Speaking to reporters after his Lakers were eliminated from the postseason by the defending champion Thunder on Monday night, star forward LeBron James wasn’t ready to discuss his next steps, as Dave McMenamin of ESPN relays.
“I think you guys asked me about (retirement), and I’ve answered questions. I don’t think I’ve come out and been like, ‘Oh, retirement is coming,'” James said. “With my future, I don’t know, honestly. It’s, obviously it’s still fresh from, obviously losing (the series). And I don’t know. I don’t know what the future holds for me.”
James, who turned 41 during the 2025/26 season, became the first NBA player to spend 23 years in the league. And while his season debut was delayed due to sciatica, he continued to perform at a high level upon returning, averaging 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.1 rebounds in 33.2 minutes per game across 60 outings.
While retirement is one possibility for the four-time MVP, a handful of players from both the Lakers and Thunder, including LeBron’s son and teammate Bronny James, observed on Monday that he looks like he still has plenty left in the tank.
“I have no clue,” Bronny said when asked about his father’s future. “I’m not going to lie to you. He looks like he can play another however many years, but he’s been in league for longer than he’s been out of league. It’s insane. I think he should think about it, and whatever he feels happy with, do that.”
Determining whether or not to continue his career is just the first of two major decisions for LeBron. If he wants to keep playing, he’ll also have to figure out which team he’ll do so for.
James has been with the Lakers since 2018 and has shown no desire to leave Los Angeles, but he’s not under contract for the 2026/27 season and L.A. is pivoting toward building its roster around its new centerpiece, Luka Doncic.
Lakers management has expressed repeatedly that it would like to see James finish his career with the organization, but if he decides he wants a change of scenery, there will likely be plenty of teams with interest. There has been speculation about the possibility of him returning to Cleveland for a third stint with the Cavaliers or teaming up with Stephen Curry in Golden State, among other scenarios.
For his part, James said that he wants to “recalibrate with my family and talk with them, and spend some time with them” over the next few weeks as he mulls his decision, per McMenamin.
“I think for me it’s about the process,” LeBron said. “If I can commit to still being in love with the process of showing up to the arena five-and-a-half hours before a game to start preparing for a game, giving everything I got, diving for loose balls and doing everything that you know that it takes to go out and play. Showing up to practices, 11 o’clock practice, I’m there at 8 o’clock preparing my body, preparing my mind, preparing to practice, to put the work in.
“So I think for me, I’ve always been in love with the process … so I think that would be a big factor.”
Lakers Notes: Ayton, Doncic, LeBron, Redick
Beyond the imposing 3-0 deficit they face after a trio of blowout losses, the biggest concern for the Lakers in their series with Oklahoma City might be the uninspired performance of Deandre Ayton, Thuc Nhi Nguyen of The Los Angeles Times writes in a subscriber-only piece.
L.A. was counting on Ayton to help neutralize OKC’s big front line, but he only played 24 minutes on Saturday, finishing with 10 points and six rebounds. He’s shooting 39.3% in the series after connecting at 60.4% during the regular season and was just 3-of-11 in the restricted area during the first two games.
Head coach JJ Redick pulled Ayton from Game 3 after a sequence that saw the Thunder collect three offensive rebounds within 19 seconds, ending with a foul when he shoved Ajay Mitchell on a drive to the basket. Redick didn’t want to reinsert Jaxson Hayes, who was ineffective in the 8:30 of playing time he got on Saturday, so he turned to rookie forward Adou Thiero to patrol the middle. The Lakers surrendered another offensive rebound off a free throw after Thiero entered the game, and Nguyen observes that Hayes “stared blankly ahead and shook his head slowly” with his arms folded across his chest.
It’s a frustrating repeat of last year’s playoffs, when Redick eventually opted to play without a center in a first-round loss to Minnesota. Ayton was signed last summer to fix the issue and was mostly effective during the regular season and the series against Houston. However, his meltdown against a superior OKC team raises questions about whether he’s a long-term solution. He holds an $8.1MM player option for next season, with a decision due by June 29.
“DA is a hell of a player,” Marcus Smart said after Saturday’s loss. “We all know it. We just want to get him the touches and get him the feel early, just to give them a different look. … All the guards are doing their thing. So we’re just trying to get the big fella involved.”
There’s more on the Lakers:
- It looks like L.A. will be eliminated before Luka Doncic has a chance to return from his hamstring injury, which is bad news for the future as well as the current season, notes Mirjam Swanson of The Los Angeles Times (subscription required). Without their top player, it’s hard for the Lakers to gauge exactly how far away they are from being able to compete with the Thunder. “Look, yeah, when you have the league’s leading scorer out there – if he was – it definitely changes the dynamic of a team,” Luke Kennard said. “Obviously, we miss him. And we know he’s working his butt off right now [to return to play] … but yeah, I mean, he would definitely change it for us. But right now, he’s not.”
- LeBron James looked old and tired as OKC seized control of the game in the third quarter, contends Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times (subscription required). James played nearly 11 minutes in the quarter, but finished with just one made shot, no rebounds and a minus-13 rating.
- Redick may be out of answers as he tries to match up with the league’s deepest team, suggests Nick Friedell of The Athletic. The Thunder have pummeled the Lakers in the second half of all three games and have clear talent advantages throughout the roster. “Typically, if you can poke holes in a playoff series, there’s a good chance they might have a temporary solution or can sort of adjust maybe a little bit,” Redick said. “This team in-game, because of their personnel, can just adjust like that. They need shooting on the floor? Great. They need multiple wing defenders on the floor? Great. They need two bigs on the floor? Great.”
Redick, Lakers Gripe About Officiating After Game 2 Loss
After the Lakers lost Game 2 to the Thunder on Thursday by a score of 125-107, Austin Reaves and several of his teammates spoke to the game’s referees on the court before heading to the locker room, seemingly expressing their frustration with how the game was called (Twitter video link). As Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes, head coach JJ Redick voiced those frustrations during his post-game press conference.
“I sarcastically said the other day, (the Thunder are) the most disruptive team without fouling,” Redick said. “I mean, they have a few guys that foul on every possession. … They’re hard enough to play. They’re hard enough to play, you’ve got to be able to just call them if they foul, and they do foul.”
Through two games, the free throw disparity between the two teams isn’t significant — the Thunder have gone to the line 38 times, while the Lakers have attempted 34 free throws. However, Los Angeles’ leading scorer and play-maker LeBron James only has five of those free throw attempts, prompting Redick to specifically address the way the four-time MVP is being officiated.
“LeBron has the worst whistle of any star player I’ve ever seen,” Redick said. “I mean, I’ve been with him two years now. The smaller guys, because they can be theatric, they typically draw more fouls, and the bigger players that are built like LeBron, it’s hard for them. He gets clobbered. He got clobbered again tonight a bunch.
“And that’s not like a new thing. That’s not specific to this crew or this series. He gets fouled a lot and it doesn’t (get called). The guy gets hit on the head more than any player I’ve seen on drives, and it rarely gets called.”
As McMenamin observes, James appeared to express his displeasure with a number of calls over the course of the game, but he declined to speak about the officiating after the game. Reaves was more willing to discuss the subject, explaining that he took particular exception to a moment when crew chief John Goble “yelled in my face” as the Lakers guard was attempting to get in position for a jump ball (Twitter video link).
“At the end of the day, we’re grown men. And I just didn’t feel like he needed to yell in my face like that,” Reaves said. “I told him that. I wasn’t disrespectful. I told him if I did that to him first, I would have got a tech. I feel like the only reason I didn’t get a tech is because he knew he was in the wrong. So, yeah, I just felt disrespected.”
Regardless of whether or not the Lakers have legitimate gripes about the officiating, neither of the first two games in the series has been close, with the Thunder winning each one by 18 points. A more favorable whistle wouldn’t solve Los Angeles’ real problems in the matchup, according to Dan Woike of The Athletic. Redick acknowledged as much during his post-game remarks.
“We didn’t lose because of the refs,” the Lakers’ coach said, per Law Murray of The Athletic. “That’s never the case. You don’t lose because of the officials. You lose because the other team outplayed you. They obviously outplayed us. … So we just got to be better, and we’ll look at how we can be better at both ends.”
Lakers Notes: Doncic, Ayton, Smart, Kennard, LeBron
Although various reporters have provided updates on Luka Doncic‘s status as he recovers from a hamstring strain – including ESPN’s Shams Charania referring to him over the weekend as “week to week” – the Lakers haven’t offered many hints about when they expect the star guard back — or even if they think he’ll return at all before their season is over.
As Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops writes, head coach JJ Redick simply told reporters after Sunday’s practice that there’s “no update” on Doncic. On Monday, the Lakers formally ruled him out for Tuesday’s Game 1, while the Thunder did the same with injured forward Jalen Williams, who is dealing with a left hamstring injury of his own, per Cliff Brunt of The Associated Press.
In a roundtable discussing the series, Justin Martinez, Joe Mussatto, and Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman suggest that Williams – who suffered a Grade 1 strain compared to a Grade 2 strain for Doncic – is probably ahead of Luka in the recovery process. However, The Oklahoman’s trio also suggests that the Thunder don’t necessarily need Williams back to win this series, whereas it’s hard to imagine the Lakers having a legitimate shot if Doncic doesn’t play.
Still, Redick remains confident in his team, noting that its success down the stretch of the regular season and in the first round wasn’t about the contributions of a single player.
“I remember there was a press conference that we did after one of our games during our 16-2 stretch,” Redick said after the Lakers closed out Houston on Friday, per Benjamin Royer of the Southern California News Group. “And you guys were like really hammering home a point about a specific player. … I said, ‘The reason our team is winning is because of our team, because each guy is starring in his role and contributing to winning.’ And that’s the story of this playoff series for us, where each guy had moments that helped us win the game.”
Here’s more on the Lakers:
- If the Lakers are going to have a legitimate chance to upset the Thunder, they’ll need a huge series from former No. 1 overall pick Deandre Ayton, the player who “changes our ceiling the most,” according to Redick. Ayton said his goal against the defending champions is to play “bigger” and to be “relentless on the glass,” writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times.
- Marcus Smart is another key contributor for Los Angeles, and he and Ayton have been linked together all season after accepting buyouts and then joining the Lakers on discounted deals that feature second-year player option, notes Dan Woike of The Athletic. “We’re both trying to get our names back into the good graces of the basketball gods and just show what we still can do,” Smart said of himself and Ayton.
- Melissa Rohlin of the California Post identifies Luke Kennard as the Lakers’ X-factor in the second round, arguing that the sharpshooter needs to be less deferential and look to recapture his shooting touch after scoring just 11 points on 4-of-18 shooting in the final three games of the first round. Kennard is on an expiring contract, so a strong performance vs. the Thunder could help earn him a stronger payday in free agency.
- In an interesting story for ESPN.com, Dave McMenamin shares several highlights from an ongoing conversation he maintained with Lakers star LeBron James in eight cities across the entire 2025/26 season. The wide-ranging discussion includes McMenamin doing his best to get James’ thoughts on how he stacks up to Michael Jordan. “I never have compared myself to MJ because our games are totally different,” LeBron said. “I have been a point-forward/forward-point my whole life. I have always looked for the pass. MJ kind of looked for the shot. Not kind of, he did. He looked for the shot. There are a lot of things where I would say my game is a lot different and a little better than his, but s–t, he was f—ing great. We’re both great. We’re both great basketball players.”
Lakers Notes: LeBron, Ayton, Doncic, Reaves
As the Lakers celebrated their first-round win over Houston Friday night, LeBron James took time to savor the moment, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. At age 41, he was the most dominant player in the series, capping it off with 28 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in the closeout victory. With the next step in his career still uncertain, James reflected on the significance of his latest playoff triumph.
“I think me personally, the accepting and trying to be OK with the small victories comes with where I am in my career,” he said. “Understanding, s–t, who knows how many more playoff series I’m going to be a part of? If I play one more or two more or three more seasons, that doesn’t guarantee me to be in the postseason. So just trying to appreciate the moments, whatever it is, and however long I’m playing. It’s pretty cool to have the opportunity to lead a team, at 41 years old, into the playoffs and for us to be able to win it.”
McMenamin notes that James became the oldest player in league history to be the top scorer in a playoff series, totaling 139 points in the six games. He was asked to carry the offensive load after Luka Doncic (strained left hamstring) and Austin Reaves (left oblique strain) both suffered serious injuries in an April 2 game. James had become more of a complementary piece in L.A.’s offense until then, but he flipped the switch back into the lead role when it became necessary.
“I mean, to be able to experience something [new], it was just totally different for me,” James said. “In March, it was a totally different role for me. It was super uncomfortable, but comfortable. I had to get into that. But it was also winning. That’s all I care about. But I knew at the same time I could give more. But maybe giving more wasn’t what was a fit for our team. And I accepted that and I was OK with that. Not from a team aspect, I was OK with that. I was able to put my ego to the side for the betterment of the team, understanding that I could do it.”
There’s more on the Lakers:
- The series validated the decision to bring in Deandre Ayton after he reached a buyout with Portland last summer, McMenamin adds. Ayton aired complaints in late February about his limited role in the offense, but he seemed to accept how he was being used as the playoffs neared. The Lakers isolated him in one-on-one coverage Friday night to limit Alperen Sengun‘s passing, and he held the Houston center to one assist. “I took the challenge to my chin,” Ayton said. “Just putting the team on my back and them trusting me. … That’s what really got everything going, to be honest.”
- Doncic is “not close” to returning for the second-round series against Oklahoma City, which starts on Tuesday, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said in a SportsCenter appearance (YouTube link). Windhorst notes that there’s a progression involved in returning from a hamstring injury, and Doncic hasn’t been able to play at all over the past month. “I have no idea how Luka’s going to be 14 days from now,” Windhorst added. “Most likely, you’re not going to see Luka Doncic at the front end of this series, maybe at least for another week to 10 days on the minimum.”
- After Friday’s victory, Reaves talked about how he was able to return in time for the final two games of the series, per Khobi Price of The California Post (Twitter video link). “A lot of treatment. A lot of treatment,” Reaves said. “I did not go with Luka to Europe. I will say that.”
- The Athletic previews the Lakers’ next series and assesses their chances of upsetting the defending champions.
Rockets Notes: Sengun, Eason, Smith Jr., Sheppard
The Rockets‘ 115-96 victory in Game 4 of their first-round series against the Lakers on Sunday gave them a glimmer of hope they can erase a 3-0 deficit. Game 5 is scheduled for Wednesday and Houston center Alperen Sengun is optimistic his team can bring the series back to Houston for a Game 6.
“The mood is good. We got one, but we’re not happy with it,” Sengun said, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net relays. “We’re going back to L.A. to fight again, no matter what. … I think we have been confident, just missing the shots. In the last game, we played with pace. We made them turn over a lot. Everybody did their job great. I think everybody is still hungry, and we are going over there to get another one, and come back home, and make them a little nervous.”
Sengun has averaged 22.8 points, 1o.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game in the series.
Here’s more on the Rockets:
- Tari Eason played a huge role in the Game 4 win. He scored 20 points while hounding LeBron James on defense. The Lakers star had just 10 points with eight turnovers. “He’s just always flying around,” fellow forward Jabari Smith Jr. said, per Varun Shankar of the Houston Chronicle. “He always ends up coming up with a loose ball that just randomly seems like it just sticks to his hand. I’m used to it by now.” Eason will be a restricted free agent after the season.
- Speaking of Smith, he’s brimming with confidence that Game 4 was a turnaround rather than an aberration. “We’re obviously the better team, I feel,” he told Shankar at the team’s Tuesday practice. Smith went on to say that Houston is better than the Lakers “from top to bottom.”
- Reed Sheppard had a rough rookie season after being selected with the No. 3 pick of the 2024 draft, He told Shakeia Taylor of The Athletic it took a toll on him. “It was tough. It was different. I wasn’t used to anything like that,” Sheppard said. The second-year guard has appeared in every game this season, including 21 regular season starts. He has scored exactly 17 points in three of the four games against the Lakers. “I think a lot of it is just trust in yourself. I’ve played basketball my whole life, and I’ve been in moments that you dream of as a little kid,” Sheppard said. “So, now that I’m here, it’s like just have fun, trust in yourself and trust the work that you put in.”
- Kevin Durant has been ruled out of Game 5. Get the details here.
Lakers-Rockets Notes: LeBron, Ayton, Reaves, Durant, Doncic, Sengun
The Lakers had a chance on Sunday night to become the first team to wrap up a playoff series, but the Rockets avoided a sweep with a 115-96 win on their home court. The game featured an uncharacteristically bad performance from LeBron James, who finished with eight turnovers and 10 points while shooting 2-of-9 from the field, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. James took responsibility for the loss, telling reporters, “It started with me, obviously. My turnovers were unacceptable.”
L.A. lost starting center Deandre Ayton when he was assessed a flagrant foul 2 for hitting Alperen Sengun in the side of the head with his forearm with 5:41 left in the third quarter. It was originally ruled a common foul before being upgraded following a video review, and McMenamin notes that players from both teams disagreed with the decision.
“We both are sweaty guys,” Ayton explained. “[My arm] just slipped off his shoulder. … I’m not no guy who is a dirty player or who plays like that.”
“I don’t want to make the officials crazy, but I mean, I didn’t expect them to eject him to be honest,” Sengun said. “I think it was a little bit soft. … I guess it is what it is, they called it. I’m glad they called it. So, we go from there.”
The game became heated from there with five more technicals being called – three on the Lakers’ Jaxson Hayes, Maxi Kleber and Adou Thiero and two on the Rockets’ Josh Okogie and Aaron Holiday. Thiero and Holiday were both ejected with 1:11 left to play for an ongoing verbal exchange. The trash talk continued after the final buzzer, with several Lakers telling McMenamin that Rockets wing Jae’Sean Tate taunted them and challenged Kleber to a fight.
There’s more on the series:
- Game 5 is set for Wednesday night, and the series could be determined by which stars are able to return. L.A.’s Austin Reaves was listed as questionable for the second straight game while recovering from a Grade 2 left oblique strain, McMenamin adds, but wasn’t used on Sunday. Houston’s Kevin Durant missed his third game of the series, and the second with a bone bruise in his sprained left ankle. Coach Ime Udoka said there’s still a chance that Durant could return at some point in the series, per Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link).
- In a pregame session with reporters, Lakers coach JJ Redick said Luka Doncic is still in the early stages of working his way back from a left hamstring strain, relays Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops. “He just continues to do some stuff on the court,” Redick said. “He was able to move today a little bit on the court. Most of the stuff has been standstill. He’s progressing. No update on any timeline or anything like that.”
- With the Rockets in a 3-0 hole, Sengun provided some inspiration with a fiery speech during a players-only talk during Sunday morning’s shootaround, Matt Young of The Houston Chronicle states in a subscriber-only story. Sengun relied on an interpreter when he came to the NBA from Turkey five years ago, but he has become confident in his English skills. “It’s hard, man. It’s hard to talk another language, but I try every day. I don’t give a … if you know what I’m saying,” he said. “At the end of the day, they understand me and I’m happy with that.”