Despite being without superstar Luka Doncic for the entire series, and Austin Reaves for most of it, the Los Angeles Lakers were still able to defeat the Houston Rockets in the first round of the playoffs last season. In fairness, the Rockets were also without their superstar Kevin Durant, but they still had another All-Star in Alperen Sengun along with a talented cast of young players.
Most expected the Rockets to come out on top so the Lakers taking them down came as a surprise to many. And Sengun is apparently still in denial as he believes the Rockets outplayed the Lakers statistically, but simply lost because of their lack of experience, via Ben DuBose of The Rockets Wire:
Alperen Sengun on the Rockets-Lakers series: “We beat them in every stat, but the experience beat us.”
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) September 22, 2026
The Lakers’ playoff experience undoubtedly played a huge role in their success in the series as LeBron James, Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton had all made runs to the NBA Finals while Luke Kennard and Rui Hachimura had plenty of postseason runs themselves. But unfortunately for Sengun, the numbers do not back up his claim.
The Lakers averaged more points, assists and blocks than the Rockets while shooting significantly better from the field and 3-point range. And while the Lakers did have more playoff experience, the Rockets did make the postseason the prior year as well so it wasn’t the first run for Sengun, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason and the rest.
Head coach JJ Redick and the Lakers staff were able to put together an excellent game plan and James was able to show that he is still one of the truly elite players in the league even in his 40s. Kennard, Smart and Hachimura were all able to do their jobs to the highest degree and that is what led to the Lakers’ success. The experience helped, but the Lakers simply outplayed Houston and Sengun will have to accept that.
Lakers’ Austin Reaves comes in at No. 37 in ESPN NBA Rank
Reaves played in just two games of that Rockets series due to a Grade 2 left oblique strain and was clearly not close to being in rhythm, which again made the Lakers’ victory that much more impressive as he was playing at an All-Star level.
This season he will look to build on that and is armed with a new contract and in the annual ESPN NBA Rank he came in at No. 37.
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