Lakers stars Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol are hoping that the team has learned that they need to play hard every night.

Los Angeles thumped Houston 89-70 in Game 7 of their semifinal series on Sunday afternoon, but many felt as though the Lakers should have advanced earlier.

"I think we learned that if we play hard every night and we're ready to compete, starting on the defensive end, we're going to give ourselves a chance," Gasol said. "Hopefully, we're going to carry that into the next round and to a championship."

Kobe Bryant agreed with Gasol, commenting on the lack of effort in the team's losses in Games 4 and 6.

"Our effort could be much better, you know, in Games 4 and 6," Bryant said. "But still, Houston played extremely well. In a series, it's all about making adjustments. And that's what we were able to do.

"We made our adjustments. We came out here and we were ready to go."