Luke Kennard scored 27 points and LeBron James added 19 points with 13 assists as the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers earned a 107-98 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets on Saturday in Game 1 of a Western Conference first-round playoff series.
Deandre Ayton scored 19 points with 11 rebounds and Marcus Smart added 15 points with eight assists as the fourth-seeded Lakers won with leading scorers Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) watching from the bench.
“We were really poised as a team,” Lakers head coach JJ Redick said. “We had a great next-play mentality. Wasn’t a perfect game. None of these games are gonna be perfect. Got contributions from a lot of people in a lot of different ways and made enough winning plays, despite the turnovers and the offense rebounds.”
In just his seventh start since joining the Lakers from the Atlanta Hawks at the trade deadline, Kennard went 9 of 13 from the floor and 5 of 5 from 3-point range while delivering a season high in points to fill the scoring void at guard.
“I just liked that he was aggressive shooting 3s. He played a fantastic basketball game,” Redick said of Kennard. “There were a couple of shots he hesitated on but he just played aggressive tonight.”
Alperen Sengun scored 19 points while Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard each added 17 for the fifth-seeded Rockets, who were playing without leading scorer Kevin Durant (knee).
Jabari Smith Jr. scored 16 points with 12 rebounds and Tari Eason also had 16 points for Houston, which has lost three consecutive road games to Los Angeles since the middle of March.
“There are some things we left on the table and didn’t do as well as we could have and opportunities missed,” Rockets head coach Ime Udoka said. “Some of that is just converting easy shots. But at the same time, it felt like we weren’t at our best.”
The Lakers shot 60.6% from the floor and 52.6% from 3-point range, while the Rockets shot 37.6% and 33.3% respectively.
Kennard helped put the Rockets away with three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. His second of the final period capped a 13-3 run and gave the Lakers an 88-72 lead with 7:58 remaining.
James made a turnaround hook inside with 4:43 remaining to put Los Angeles up 96-80. The 41-year-old added a fadeaway jumper with 2:57 remaining for a 98-84 lead.
Houston was within 100-91 with 1:40 remaining on a dunk from Thompson before Ayton put the game away for Los Angeles on a three-point play with 1:04 left for a 105-93 lead.
“I don’t know if it was a deer-in-the-headlight thing,” Udoka said. “We have some young guys out there, but it’s not their first time. When you kind of struggle across the board like that, some nerves might have been there a little bit. We have to flush that part of it and bounce back on Tuesday.”
The Lakers shot 70.6% from the floor in the fourth quarter and 56.2% in the second half.
The Rockets finished with a 44-35 rebounding advantage.
The Lakers got off to a fast start, leading by eight points in the first quarter, when James had eight assists, and took a 33-29 lead after the opening period. Los Angeles led 50-48 at the half on 64.7% shooting from the floor as Ayton scored 12 points. Sengun had 11 at the half for Houston.
–Field Level Media
