LeBron James hailed the Los Angeles Lakers' character following their dramatic comeback victory over the Houston Rockets on Friday.

The Lakers trailed by six points heading into the final 30 seconds, but recovered to prevail 112-108 in overtime to establish a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference first-round series.

James scored 29 points for Los Angeles, who became only the second franchise in the last 30 years to overturn a six-point deficit in the last 30 seconds of regulation time to win a postseason game, after the Philadelphia Eagles did the same to the New York Knicks in 2024.

"The game's never over until zero's on the clock," he said. "We don't have the luxury of being passive or being complacent.

"Our whole mindset is we have to do everything it takes in that particular game and that particular moment in that particular possession in order for us to win basketball games, because we don't have a long leash of error."

Big-time plays when it mattered most. pic.twitter.com/oEcwS4DO8X

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 25, 2026

Now, within one more win of progressing to the second round, the Lakers have done so without leading scorers Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, who have missed the last three weeks through injury.

"The last week of the season, the last thing you would want or even want to imagine or think about is two of your best players going down with injuries and not being ready for the postseason," added James, who also registered 13 rebounds, six assists and eight turnovers.

"So, it was a shift for all of us; it's challenging for all of us. We're figuring it out together on the fly."

The Lakers can sweep the series in Houston on Sunday.