The Lakers went into Monday’s game against the Rockets wanting to treat it as a playoff contest. Everything about how the win had to be grinded out was exactly like a playoff game.

It was a very ugly contest with a really poor offensive night from the purple and gold. However, a strong effort on the end of the court made up for it.

More importantly, the pair of Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent stepped up in a big way. The pair hit a combined six 3-pointers and had 20 points apiece as the two leading scorers.

It was a team effort on Monday for the Lakers on the court and from our readers in the live game thread. Here’s the best reactions from the team’s nervy victory.

First quarter: “Not bad shots. Just ain’t falling. YET”

The opening frame of this one was little more than a rock fight between the two teams. After scoring nearly 130 points in the game against the Grizzlies, the Lakers didn’t even crack 20 points in the first quarter on Monday.

Second quarter: “Gabe is our Curry tonight”

The Lakers eventually found their footing in the second period, largely on the back of Gabe Vincent. The veteran guard caught fire, as he has in big games this season, and hit a trio of 3-pointers in the second period as the Lakers scored twice as many points (32) as they did in the first quarter.

Third quarter: “Good thing DFS is here”

Stop me if you heard this before, but the Lakers…outscored their opponent in the third quarter? Wait, that can’t be right.

DFS did the heavy lifting in this period, knocking down a trio of 3-pointers of his own. Gabe added two more, too, as the Lakers went 7-12 from range in the period.

Fourth quarter: “These are essentially playoff mins”

The fourth quarter was much of a battle of wills between the two teams. They managed just 43 combined points, but the Lakers held the Rockets to 30% shooting while hitting all three free throws to secure the win.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.