Frank Vogel said that the Los Angeles Lakers' defense can be the team's third star following their 110-100 win over the Houston Rockets in game 4.
The Lakers are now up 3-1 in the series.
"That's as powerful a weapon there is in one of these playoff runs. It's as powerful as a superstar. If you have an elite defense, that can be your third star, so to speak," said Vogel after the game.
The Lakers held the Rockets to 43.4% shooting, including limiting James Harden to 2-for-11 shooting from the field.
'We're just trying to eliminate anything that we can from him, because he can score from [anywhere]. He gets into the paint with his runners, with his floaters. Obviously, he's got the step-back. He's got the 3s in transition. He has his catch-and-shoot 3s when he's off the ball. And like I said, he's very tricky with his moves in the paint, where he gets to the free throw line. So we're just trying to take away some things," said LeBron James about the Lakers' gameplan for Harden.
The Lakers trapped Harden 17 times on pick-and-rolls on Thursday, up from 13 total times through the first three games.
The Rockets averaged 0.714 points per possession when Harden was trapped during the game, down from their 1.13 points per possession average during the regular season.