The Lakers' probability of advancing skyrocketed to 61%! James narrowly avoided injury from a Rockets player, which could have ended his season.

In yesterday's Lakers-Rockets game, during a struggle, LeBron James' left arm was almost injured by Rockets player Tate's pulling, but luckily, it turned out fine. James promptly adjusted his position, freed himself, and ended up scoring a three-pointer from the arc.

Pulling James' arm upward prevented him from using his strength, so he had to turn and kneel to escape. If he hadn't taken that action, a dislocation would have been highly probable.

We recall instances in playoff runs of James' teams where dislocations led to season-ending injuries. The 2015 playoffs, when Love was injured by Olynyk, remains vivid. It directly impacted the Cavaliers' championship pursuit.

It was fortunate that James wasn't injured yesterday. If a team's three top stars all couldn't play in the playoffs, that would truly be absurd.

However, going forward, the 41-year-old James must still guard against such minor maneuvers to avoid injury. James not only possesses top-tier reaction ability on the court, but his basketball IQ was also evident in yesterday's game.

In the final minute, with the Lakers leading 97-92 by five points, James deliberately signaled to Smart to slow down the pace, then immediately rose up, received the ball, and dunked to seal the victory.

It also took someone like Smart to understand and respond accordingly.

Without Doncic and Reaves, Smart played a crucial role defensively, helping the team limit the Rockets to under 100 points for two consecutive games.

Yesterday, Smart ignited the team's offense; his 25 points were his highest playoff score since 2020. He made five three-pointers and also led the defensive effort against Durant.

Yesterday, the Lakers used double-teams to force the ball away from Durant, then scrambled to rotate defensively and fiercely contested rebounds. James completed a folding dunk, and after the game he joked, "I don't know how that happened, I need to find a seat and calm down."

James' 28 points are the highest playoff score for a player aged 41 or older, with 9 points coming in the fourth quarter when the Rockets had no choice but to double-team him.

In contrast, Durant's ability to handle double-teams is vastly different from James'. Durant had 9 turnovers yesterday; in 14 possessions where he was double-teamed, he attempted only 3 shots, scoring 2 points. Other Rockets players shot 6-for-11, scoring 13 points from those double-team situations.

Double-teaming James is also a poison you have to swallow.

Yesterday, the Lakers limited Durant to just 3 points in the second half. When asked if he felt any sense of accomplishment, James said, "Zero. Absolutely none. That only makes him more angry going into Game 3. We have no satisfaction; we did our job, but that guy is a future Hall of Famer."

Kennard shot 8-for-13, continuing to rewrite his NBA story while the Lakers lack their starting backcourt. Against the Rockets' aggressive defense, he scored 23 points, matching Durant's total.

Every Lakers player contributed to the win, and they all made contributions in ways that statistics cannot capture.

Even players like Laravia, who had never played in the playoffs, openly talked about how playing meaningful basketball energizes them. They all expressed desire for this stage and the opportunity to compete.

Today, the Thunder lead the Suns 2-0. Who would have thought that the two Western Conference teams with 2-0 leads are the Lakers and the Thunder? If these two teams advance smoothly, they will face each head-to-head in the next round.

Additionally, with the Lakers leading the Rockets 2-0, their probability of advancing has surged from 25% to 61%.

When James leads a series 2-0, his teams have always advanced and never been overturned. Previously, most people didn't favor the Lakers advancing. Now, under favorable circumstances, the Lakers must stay steady, not lose momentum midway, and maintain strong momentum until the end.