HOUSTON — LeBron James had 28 points and the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated Houston with a 98-78 win in Game 6 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series on Friday night by holding the Rockets to a season low in points. The No. 4 seed Lakers move on to meet the top-seeded Thunder with Game 1 Tuesday in Oklahoma City. Los Angeles has advanced to the second round for the first time since 2023 when it lost to Denver in the West finals despite missing top scorer Luka Doncic for the entire series.“For us to be written off a few weeks ago and win a playoff series is a big deal,” coach JJ Redick said. The Lakers used a 27-3 run in the first half to take an 18-point lead at halftime. They led by 22 with about three minutes left in the third quarter before Houston went on an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 71-55 entering the fourth.But Los Angeles opened the quarter with a 10-3 spurt, with five points from Rui Hachimura, to make it 81-58 with about seven minutes le …
