Lakers' Marcus Smart Gets Real About What Must Change Before Game 6
After winning the first three games of their first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets, the Los Angeles Lakers have now lost two straight, letting Alperen Sengun and company climb back into it with the chance to make NBA history if they can win the next two games.
No team in league history (159-0) has ever come back after being down 3-0 in a playoff series. Still, the Rockets now have momentum toward doing the seemingly impossible, which puts all the pressure on LeBron James and the Lakers heading into Game 6 on Friday night at the Toyota Center in Houston.
Marcus Smart Emphasizes a Need for ‘Desperation' in Game 6
Following the disappointing loss to the Rockets in Game 4 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Wednesday, veteran guard Marcus Smart made it clear that the Lakers need to play with a sense of desperation moving forward.
"Desperation," Smart said. "We gotta play desperate. Every possession matters for us. You really gotta literally go out there and be ready to die. When I was on the other end that was our motto. Be willing to run through a wall and sacrifice your body for the betterment of the team. That's what we're gonna have to do now. We have to be the desperate team. We know they're gonna come in to their place and be very desperate, very confident but we gotta be able to respond in a good way."
Smart is spot on with his assessment of the Lakers' collective mindset heading into Game 6. The Rockets have nothing to lose in the final two games, as they'll be looking to pull off a historic comeback, with many having already written off Houston's chances to advance to the second round.
So after getting out to a commanding 3-0 lead, the momentum has shifted, and so has the pressure. At this point, the Lakers simply want to avoid embarrassment and being on the wrong side of NBA history.
Marcus Smart is familiar with the position the Rockets are in as he was on the Celtics team in 2023 that forced a Game 7 against the Heat after going down 3-0. Given his experience, he talked about what the Lakers need to do to end this: pic.twitter.com/v9HuDqyMkN
- Daniel Starkand (@DStarkand) April 30, 2026
Even though the Lakers have proven they can beat this Rockets team led by Sengun while playing without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, Houston may have started to figure things out in this series, while older veterans like James and Smart have struggled over the past two games.
Fortunately, the Lakers do have Reaves back in the fold, as he returned for Game 5, but the Rockets still pulled off the six-point win in Los Angeles.
The last thing the Lakers want to do is give the Rockets hope, who have been playing without superstar Kevin Durant. Game 6 in Houston will be crucial, even though the series will go back to Los Angeles if Ime Udoka's squad forces Game 7. JJ Redick's squad needs to stop the bleeding and end this series on Friday on the road.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/lakers/onsi as Lakers' Marcus Smart Gets Real About What Must Change Before Game 6.
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This story was originally published May 1, 2026 at 3:02 PM.