LOS ANGELES — Entering the final two weeks of the season, Lakers coach JJ Redick emphasized the importance of his team building its “playoff mentality”.

Embracing the mental, physical and emotional toll that’s required to be successful once the postseason arrives.

Playing with the attention to detail to the game plan that’s required to beat good-to-great teams four times in a seven-game series.

In Monday night’s home game against the Rockets, that meant an emphasis on defensive rebounding against a Houston team that entered the matchup leading the league in second-chance points. Taking care of the ball against a team that relies heavily on transition opportunities to make up for its subpar halfcourt offense.

The Lakers took care of business in both areas, leading to a 104-98 victory over the Rockets in the first of two crucial matchups before the regular season ends between teams fighting for homecourt advantage in the playoffs.

Luka Doncic led the Lakers (46-29) with 20 points, nine assists and six rebounds.

Gabe Vincent (20 points, four rebounds; six 3-pointers) and Dorian Finney-Smith (20 points, six rebounds, three assists; six 3s) combined for 40 of the Lakers’ 46 bench points.

Most of Finney-Smith’s 3s came out of pick and pops with Doncic when Alperen Sengun or Steven Adams were guarding Finney-Smith, with the Lakers targeting the Rockets’ slow-footed big men to defend in space.

LeBron James (16 points, eight rebounds, four assists) and Austin Reaves (12 points, eight rebounds, three assists) had relatively quieter games.

Rui Hachimura (seven points on 3-of-10 shooting) redeemed airballing a late 3-pointer by stealing Dillon Brooks’ pass to Alperen Sengun inside the paint with 46 seconds left.

James turned the ball over on the Lakers’ ensuing possession, leading to Dillon Brooks splitting a pair of free throws to cut Houston’s deficit to 100-98 with 20.1 seconds left.

James sealed the game by making a pair of free throws with 11.1 seconds left. He had a weakside block against Sengun on a dunk attempt with eight seconds left before Brooks missed a 3-point with five seconds left. Finney-Smith grabbed the rebound and made a pair of free throws with the Rockets intentionally fouling to put the game out of reach.

Amen Thompson led the Rockets (49-27) with 20 points, five rebounds and four assists. Brooks had 16 points but on 5-of-14 shooting. Sengun finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists, with the Lakers effectively limiting his touches in the first half.

In a game that was nearly the opposite of Saturday’s high-scoring road victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, the Lakers and Rockets lacked offense rhythm for significant chunks of Monday.

The teams combined to score 35 points in the first quarter, a quarter the Rockets led 19-16 before the Lakers scored 32 points in the second and 34 in the third.

The Lakers won despite shooting 39.3% from the field (35 of 89).