Despite missing leading scorers Luka Doncic and Austin Reeves, the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James defeated Houston in the opening game.
Published April 19, 2026
Luke Kennard scored a playoff career-high 27 points, LeBron James had 19 points and 13 assists, and the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers took advantage of Kevin Durant’s injury absence to beat the Houston Rockets 107-98 in the opener of their first-round playoff series on Saturday night.
Deandre Ayton scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Lakers, who won without their top two scorers.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
Both teams played the opening game without their most important players. Luka Doncic and Austin Reeves have been out indefinitely with injuries since April 2, and Durant suffered a right knee contusion late in the game.
Los Angeles shot 60.6 percent from the field, but the Rockets’ poor defense limited them to 37.6 percent.
Alperen Sengan scored 19 points and Jabari Smith Jr. had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Rockets, who finished the regular season one game behind Los Angeles. Armen Thompson added 17 points, but Houston’s young core got off to a shaky start after the Lakers’ injuries made them the clear favorites in this series.
Game 2 will be played Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
Kennard inspires Lakers in second half
The Lakers acquired Kennard from Atlanta in early February, and the NBA’s most accurate 3-point shooter has become a key reserve, earning a major role over the past two weeks without Los Angeles’ starting backcourt. He made four 3-pointers in Game 1 and made nine of his first 12 shots.
Durant, who bumped a knee with a teammate during Wednesday’s practice, will have to wait at least one more game before making his playoff debut with the Rockets. Reed Shepard started and scored 17 points while hitting five 3-pointers, but the Rockets struggled with consistent half-court offense in Durant’s absence despite grabbing 21 offensive rebounds.
The Lakers took the lead for good with the first bucket of the second half and extended their advantage to 16 points in the fourth quarter. Kennard had 16 points after halftime, and James, 41, had eight assists in the first quarter and then made some nifty baskets to start his 19th NBA postseason.
Los Angeles also got a boost from veteran guard Marcus Smart, who had 15 points and eight assists on four 3-pointers in his Lakers playoff debut. Smart said before the series that success came down to “willpower,” but the Lakers clearly had more than that.
Bronny James played from the second quarter alongside his famous father in the first significant playoff game of his 21-year-old career.
