Why LeBron James had to ‘set the tone’ for Lakers in Game 6 vs. Rockets

Everything looked smooth for the Los Angeles Lakers when they took a 3-0 lead last week in their first-round series against the Houston Rockets. But then the Lakers were forced to lock in after the Rockets took two consecutive games and put them under threat of being only the fifth team in NBA history to allow a Game 7 — where anything can happen — after going up 3-0 in a playoff series.

On Friday night, a week after their bonkers Game 3 victory, the Lakers finally got the job done against the Rockets, taking a 98-78 victory to book their place in the second round of the playoffs in a matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder. LeBron James, despite being the oldest player on the court, was the best one at Toyota Center — recording 28 points on 10-25 shooting while adding seven rebounds and eight assists.

Being the NBA’s all-time leader in minutes played both in the regular season and the playoffs means that James has seen everything this league has to throw at him. He has experience in spades, and he knew that he had to be the one to set an example for the Lakers as they closed out the series against the Rockets.

“Aggression. They changed the aggression level on us in Game 4 and Game 5. But a lot of our guys, quite frankly, have not been in this position, have not been in a closeout situation, and especially on the road. So it’s important for me to go on kinda set the tone. I did that from the beginning and I felt like everybody just took my lead,” James told the NBA on Prime crew after the win.

.@KingJames was so hyped to hear @ThisIsUD's voice pic.twitter.com/c1mnPrYx2U

— NBA on Prime (@NBAonPrime) May 2, 2026

Almost all season long, James has deferred to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, but this series has forced the 41-year-old to kick it up a notch. And he certainly did on Friday to finally get the Lakers over the Rockets.

The post Why LeBron James had to ‘set the tone’ for Lakers in Game 6 vs. Rockets appeared first on ClutchPoints.