Lakers edge Rockets
- The Lakers won their Game 1 meeting with the Rockets, a contest that featured a surprise scoring surge. - Luke Kennard poured in a playoff-career high 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-4 from three. - The matchup was also notable because Kevin Durant was ruled out with a knee contusion for the game, shaping how the teams approached the opener. (x.com, x.com, sports.yahoo.com)
The Lakers opened their first-round series by beating the Rockets 107-98 on Saturday night in Los Angeles. (nba.com) Luke Kennard led Los Angeles with 27 points, a playoff career high, on 8-of-11 shooting and 4-of-4 from 3-point range. LeBron James added 19 points and 13 assists in the Game 1 win. (nba.com) Houston played without Kevin Durant, who was ruled out before the opener with a right knee contusion suffered at practice that week. Durant averaged 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 78 games during his first season with the Rockets. (espn.com) The result landed as an upset because Los Angeles entered the series short-handed too. NBA.com framed the matchup around a depleted Lakers roster, and Kennard supplied the scoring jolt the team needed in the opener. (nba.com, nba.com) The series pairs the West's No. 4 seed, Los Angeles, with No. 5 Houston, and Game 1 was the first playoff meeting of the matchup on April 18, 2026. The Rockets had been built around Durant's arrival, but their opening look changed immediately once he was unavailable. (nba.com, espn.com) NBA.com's Game 1 takeaway focused on Kennard's shotmaking and James' playmaking, with Los Angeles using that combination to seize the early series edge. Houston now heads into the next game trailing 1-0 and waiting on Durant's status. (nba.com, nba.com)
