Houston Rockets at Los Angeles Lakers
· West 1st Round - Game 1Kennard scores 27, LeBron leads Lakers to surprising 107-98 win over Rockets in playoff opener
Deandre Ayton had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Lakers, who pulled off an impressive win without their top two scorers.
Both teams played the opener without their most important player. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves have been out indefinitely with injuries since April 2, while Durant was a late scratch with a bruised right knee.
Los Angeles thrived by hitting 60.6% of its shots while holding the Rockets to 37.6% shooting with pesky defense. That disparity allowed the Lakers to win despite attempting just 66 shots — the fewest in an NBA game in the past three seasons — and giving up 21 offensive rebounds.
“That’s what it has to be — a collective group,” the 41-year-old James said after beginning his 19th NBA postseason. “When you’re missing so much firepower like we are right now with AR and Luka being out, we all have to do our job and maybe have to do a little bit more, protect one another offensively and defensively, and I think we did that tonight.”
Alperen Sengun scored 19 points and Jabari Smith Jr. had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Rockets. Amen Thompson added 17 points.
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
The Lakers acquired Kennard from Atlanta in early February, and the NBA’s most accurate 3-point shooter became a key reserve before he seized a major role over the past two weeks. He hit four 3-pointers in Game 1 while making nine of his first 12 shots.
Durant banged knees with a teammate in practice Wednesday. Reed Sheppard five 3-pointers while scoring 17 points, but the Rockets struggled to score consistently.
“We won a lot of areas, but just shot poorly,” Houston coach Ime Udoka said. “That’s going to be tough to beat, but there are some things we left on the table, opportunities missed."
Los Angeles also got a boost from Marcus Smart, who had 15 points and eight assists with four 3-pointers. Smart said before the series that success would come down to “willpower” — and the Lakers clearly had more for starters.
Bronny James began the second quarter playing alongside his famous father in the first significant playoff minutes of the 21-year-old's career.
Regular Season Series
LAL win series 2-1
Recent Plays
| 4th 0.0 |  |
End of Game | 98 - 107 |
| 4th 0.0 | |
End of the 4th Quarter | 98 - 107 |
| 4th 15.8 |  |
Josh Okogie enters the game for Alperen Sengun | 98 - 107 |
| 4th 15.8 |  |
Jake LaRavia enters the game for Deandre Ayton | 98 - 107 |
| 4th 15.8 | |
Lakers Full timeout | 98 - 107 |
Statistics
 HOU |
 LAL |
|
|---|---|---|
| 35-93 | FG | 40-66 |
| 38 | Field Goal % | 61 |
| 11-33 | 3PT | 10-19 |
| 33 | Three Point % | 53 |
| 17-25 | FT | 17-26 |
| 68 | Free Throw % | 65 |
| 44 | Rebounds | 35 |
| 21 | Offensive Rebounds | 3 |
| 23 | Defensive Rebounds | 32 |
| 24 | Assists | 29 |
| 13 | Steals | 7 |
| 3 | Blocks | 8 |
| 13 | Turnovers | 18 |
| 0 | Team Turnovers | 2 |
| 13 | Total Turnovers | 20 |
| 2 | Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 2 | Total Technical Fouls | 0 |
| 0 | Flagrant Fouls | 0 |
| 7 | Points Conceded Off Turnovers | 24 |
| 11 | Fast Break Points | 4 |
| 44 | Points in Paint | 40 |
| 22 | Fouls | 25 |
| 2 | Largest Lead | 16 |
| 3 | Lead Changes | 3 |
| 4 | Percent Led | 93 |
Los Angeles Lakers Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Luka Doncic, G | Out | May 6 |
Houston Rockets Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Kevin Durant, F | Out | May 1 |
| Steven Adams, C | Out | Jan 28 |
| Fred VanVleet, G | Out | Sep 22 |
Game Information
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Attendance: 19,057 · Capacity:
2025-26 Southwest Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 San Antonio |
62 | 20 | .756 | - | L1 |
 Houston |
52 | 30 | .634 | 10 | W1 |
 New Orleans |
26 | 56 | .317 | 36 | L2 |
 Dallas |
26 | 56 | .317 | 36 | W1 |
 Memphis |
25 | 57 | .305 | 37 | L8 |
2025-26 Pacific Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 LA Lakers |
- | 29 | W3 | 0.64634144 | 53 |
 Phoenix |
8 | 37 | W1 | 0.5487805 | 45 |
 LA Clippers |
11 | 40 | W1 | 0.5121951 | 42 |
 Golden State |
16 | 45 | L3 | 0.4512195 | 37 |
 Sacramento |
31 | 60 | L1 | 0.2682927 | 22 |
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