The Los Angeles Lakers were starting to feel the heat.

After racing out to a 3–0 lead against the Houston Rockets, the Lakers dropped two straight games, including a six-point, 99-93, loss at home in Game 5. What once looked like a comfortable first-round series sweep suddenly carried real tension heading into Game 6 in Houston.

The Lakers responded by playing one of their sharpest games of the postseason. They built a 19-point lead in the second quarter, never allowed Houston to seriously threaten from there, and eventually led by as much as 29 in the fourth. 41-year-old LeBron James turned back the clock throughout the series, but Los Angeles would not have been able to close out Houston without Rui Hachimura’s contributions.

Hachimura finished Game 6 with 21 points, five three-pointers, six rebounds, two assists, and a block. His shot-making helped stretch Houston’s defense and gave the Lakers another dependable source of offense with James and Austin Reaves. In a closeout game, particularly one on the road, these supporting contributions matter.

It was not a one-of performance either.

Among the Lakers who appeared in every game in the series, Hachimura was their second-leading scorer behind James. He averaged 15.8 points on 54.3 percent shooting from the field while making 2.8 threes per game on an impressive 58.6 percent clip. Those numbers marked a clear jump from his regular season averages of 11.5 points, 51.4 percent shooting, 1.7 made threes, and 44.3 percent shooting on threes.

Hachimura’s postseason shooting has quietly become one of the more valuable parts of his profile. He is currently second all-time in playoff three-point percentage at 49.59 percent, a remarkable number for a forward who is not usually discussed among the league’s elite shooters.

This shooting ability has always been part of what makes him useful in the NBA. Hachimura is far from flashy, and hardly makes the highlight reels, but that should not minimize how he is viewed as he is becoming one of the most effective role players in the league. 

At 6-foot-8 and 230 pounds, the 28-year-old has the size to slide across frontcourt positions and the shooting touch to punish defenses that shade too aggressively toward the Lakers’ primary creators. He does not need a heavy diet of shots to impact a game, which makes him especially valuable on a team such as Los Angeles that is built around ball-dominant stars.

Now that they have finally eliminated the Rockets, the challenge now becomes much greater.

Los Angeles moves on to face the defending champion and top seed Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that will enter the series as the overwhelming favorite. The Lakers will need James to keep playing at a high level, Austin Reaves to remain aggressive, and hopefully Luka Doncic to return by the third or fourth game of the series to make this competitive.

Hachimura’s role remains just as important. If he keeps shooting this well, Oklahoma City will have to respect him on the perimeter, opening up driving lanes for James, Reaves, and eventually Doncic. Against a team as complete as the Thunder, the Lakers will need every edge that they can find.

Hachimura was an X-factor against Houston. Now Los Angeles needs him to keep doing it against an even tougher opponent.