Rui Hachimura said on Apr. 15 that team chemistry has been key to the Los Angeles Lakers’ performance during the 2025-26 season, as the team prepares to face the Houston Rockets in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Hachimura, who began the season as a starter before moving to a bench role, pointed out that lineup adjustments and balanced rotations allowed players like him to thrive. He emphasized how important it was for everyone on the roster to understand their roles, especially with teammates Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves currently unavailable due to injury.
“I think it was chemistry,” Hachimura said after the season finale. “I talked a lot about chemistry, and how important, especially in basketball, but in team sports, we all need each other. I think to get through this season, especially 82 games is really long, a lot of things happening, injuries, different lineups, trades, everything. So, I think that this year we had good chemistry to fight through 82 games.”
He also addressed how losing key players would affect their playoff run: “Especially with Luka [Dončić] and AR (Austin Reaves) out, it’s a different game a little bit,” Hachimura said. “But I think we understand our roles… at the end of the day we know what our goal is and I think we fought through these past three or four games… Yeah, we gotta keep rolling.”
The Lakers are expected to rely heavily on teamwork as they enter their matchup against Houston. While some see Houston as an advantageous opponent on paper for Los Angeles given recent form and injuries within both teams’ rosters—the absence of Doncic and Reaves may put added pressure on remaining players.
This postseason test comes after Hachimura reached a career milestone by scoring his 5,000th point—an achievement reflecting his adaptability across various roles for Los Angeles throughout this campaign.