The Lakers caught a break heading into Saturday's Game 1 when a bruised knee suffered in practice knocked Kevin Durant out.
Even with Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves out, losing Durant ate up a lot of the advantage the Rockets have head-to-head against LA. But their good fortune would only matter if the Lakers came out and took care of business.
That they did, playing active defense throughout and using 27 points from Luke Kennard, 19 each from Deandre Ayton (11 rebounds) and LeBron James (13 assists) plus 29 combined from Rui Hachimura to win, 107-98. The Lakers should be very pleased with how they competed, and while Rockets fans will point to the absence of Durant (which is a big deal, no question) the Lakers can take gain confidence knowing that the game wasn't perfect on their end, either. Yes, Kennard went off, but LeBron was relatively quiet as a scorer, at least. The Lakers got to the free throw line, but were pretty bad at converting, hitting only 65% of those opportunities. They also had 18 turnovers, which is more than they want.
So there's room to grow, here, even if the shooting percentage (61% overall, 53% from 3-point range) goes down.
The Lakers need to be ready for Houston to be better in Game 2, not just because of the prospect of Durant playing, but expecting some positive regression for the Rockets from a shooting standpoint. Yes, the Lakers played well defensively, sticking to their principles and keeping the energy high, but Houston will almost surely improve its shooting (38/33 percent splits) at least a little.
That's how these series go. But for now, the Lakers not only got a win, but did so in a confidence-promoting way that validates their results over the final three games.
HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
SEGMENT 1: The Lakers get a Game 1 win.
SEGMENT 2: No KD for the Rockets, and it showed.
SEGMENT 3: Blueprint for Game 2?
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