JJ Redick credited the Los Angeles Lakers' supporting cast after they overcame lacklustre displays from LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves to beat the Houston Rockets.

The Lakers improved to 46-29 with a 104-98 success over in-form Houston in a game held in a playoff atmosphere at Crypto.com Arena.

The victory was Los Angeles' second in a row after a run of four defeats in five games, while the Rockets had won 12 of their last 13 going into Monday's game.

The Lakers' triumph came predominantly due to their reserves' efforts, with Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent each making six 3-pointers while scoring 20 points apiece. 

Their much-vaunted 'Big Three' of James (16 points), Doncic (20) and Reaves (12) failed to reach their usual heights, but Redick was delighted to see other players get some credit.

"I have said a couple of times; on bad teams, players reject their roles, on good teams, players accept their roles; on great teams, players embrace their roles," Redick said.

"We have a number of guys that aren't the 'Big Three' or whatever moniker you want to give to AR, Luka, and Bron. 

"We have a number of guys on our team who have fully embraced their roles, and it has been the difference in our season."

Final stats

Luka: 20 pts, 9 ast, 6 reb, 2 stl
Dorian: 20 pts, 6 reb, 3 ast, 3 blk, 2 stl
Gabe: 20 pts, 4 reb
LeBron: 16 pts, 8 reb, 4 ast, 2 blk, 2 stl
Austin: 12 pts, 8 reb, 3 ast, 2 stl pic.twitter.com/ZUNJ2ArIDz

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 1, 2025

The Lakers were out-rebounded 51 to 45, but had 11 steals to Houston's seven as they put up a solid defensive showing.

Redick continued: "Defensively, it's just about packing the paint and getting the rebound, and I think we did that tonight. That's how we have to control the glass: by committing. 

"This was very explicit – if you are on [Alperen] Sengun or [Steven] Adams, you are not going to get the rebound.

"The job was to box out. Somebody else's job was to come in, tip the ball to a team-mate, or grab the rebound. We were great with that tonight."

Doncic's 20-point showing was his worst in 18 outings since he put up 19 points in a 107-99 victory over his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, in late February.

But the Slovenian says he is becoming more comfortable with each game that passes, as the Lakers aim for the second seed in the Western Conference.

"Great, very comfortable. You saw today we fought very hard. It was a very physical game, and we've got to play like this every game," Doncic said.

"On offense, we didn't do much, but we shared the ball. We were playing with pace, and we've just got to play like that."