Despite missing leading scorers Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the LA Lakers and LeBron James defeat Houston in opener.Published On 19 Apr 202619 Apr 2026Luke Kennard scored a career playoff-high 27 points, LeBron James had 19 points and 13 assists, and the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers capitalised on Kevin Durant’s injury absence for a 107-98 victory over the Houston Rockets in the opener of their first-round playoff series on Saturday night.Deandre Ayton had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Lakers, who pulled off an impressive win without their top two scorers.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listBoth 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 percent of its shots while holding the Rockets to 37.6 percent shooting with pesky defence.Alperen Sengun scored 19 points, and Jabari Smith Jr had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Rockets, who finished one game behind Los Angeles in the regular season. Amen Thompson added 17 points, but Houston’s young core got off to an inconsistent start after becoming the firm favourite in this series due to the Lakers’ injury woes.Game 2 is on Tuesday night in Los Angeles. Guard Luke Kennard #10 led the Lakers with 27 points in Game 1 against Houston [Kirby Lee/Imagn Images via Reuters]Kennard rallies Lakers in second halfThe Lakers acquired Kennard from Atlanta in early February, and the NBA’s most accurate 3-point shooter became a key reserve before …
