Luke Kennard and LeBron James guide the Lakers to a Game 1 victory over the Rockets<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Download the NBA App<\/a><\/p>\n No Luka Don\u010di\u0107. No Austin Reaves.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But no Kevin Durant?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Sticking\u00a0strictly to the math, the Lakers having to open their first-round series<\/a> against Houston without Don\u010di\u0107 (33.5 ppg) and Reaves (23.3) would seem to pose more than double the trouble the Rockets faced when Durant (26.0) was a late scratch from Game 1<\/a> of the teams\u2019 first-round Western Conference series.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t work out that way, though, when the Lakers found alternative ways to generate their offense and the Rockets looked discombobulated in Saturday night\u2019s opener at Crypto.com Arena.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Here are four takeaways from Los Angeles\u2019 107-98 victory<\/a> that gave them a 1-0 series lead:\u00a0<\/p>\n 1. The\u2018Luka Nard\u2019 game<\/p>\n If you can\u2019t have Luka, you can have Luke \u2026 uh. With the Lakers in dire need of an offensive transfusion \u2013 and already being counted out by many in the series given Don\u010di\u0107\u2019s (hamstring strain) and Reaves\u2019 (oblique strain) uncertain recovery timelines \u2013 it was a step up-or-fail situation for the home squad. \u00a0<\/p>\n Well, Luke Kennard stepped all the way up. The veteran lefthander, acquired Feb. 5 from Atlanta, had his biggest scoring night since arriving in L.A. He scored a game-high 27 points, his first of 20+ as a Laker, shooting 9-for-13 and 5-for-5 on 3s. Long typecast as a catch-and-shoot specialist \u2013 one who led the NBA in 3-point percentage this season for the third time in his career \u2013 Kennard played a well-rounded offensive game<\/a>, with buckets off the dribble and in transition.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Luke Kennard pours in a playoff career-high 27 points to key the Lakers’ Game 1 win<\/p>\n A reserve who averaged 9.0 points in 23 minutes nightly as a Laker can wreak havoc on a defensive game plan when he triples that output unexpectedly.\u00a0Which he did.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe is the number one shooter in the NBA so, you know, there\u2019s not much to say,\u201d Lakers center Deandre Ayton said. \u201cHe\u2019s doing it in the playoffs where it really counts. My word is\u00a0\u2018speechless,\u2019\u00a0to be honest.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n 2. Maybe 41 is the new 30<\/p>\n Kennard was special, but LeBron James was essential Saturday in getting the Lakers going and keeping them in front. At an age when he should be on the sideline wearing a headset or relaxing in a luxury suite, the NBA\u2019s all-time leader in games, points, playoff appearances and 80% of all other league goodness met the challenge of picking up his team\u2019s slack. Maybe it was just another opportunity to shine for James near the end of his 23rd\u00a0season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n James\u2019\u00a0first priority\u00a0in this one was to get teammates involved and rolling, to take their minds off who wasn\u2019t there and focus on who was. He\u00a0scored four points but distributed eight assists to help L.A. take a 33-29 lead after one quarter. By the end, James had 19 points, eight rebounds and 13 assists.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Supposedly too old to carry a quality team anymore, James appeared to help Ayton lock in (no small feat) and move the ball to and through others. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe trusts everyone on the court,\u201d Kennard said. \u201cHe gives confidence to everyone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n 3. Missing Durant, Rockets misfired<\/p>\n Houston coach Ime Udoka acknowledged his team missed Durant\u2019s efficiency and consistency. But Udoka disputed a suggestion that the thin man\u2019s right knee contusion \u2013 suffered at Wednesday\u2019s practice \u2013 threw the team\u2019s offense into turmoil.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it was a surprise to us,\u201d Udoka said. \u201cWe knew he got banged up and we looked at a bunch of different things without him. If he could go, he could go, but it was doubtful based on how he was moving the last few days.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe prepped for different lineups without him. We knew there might be a good chance\u00a0he was out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Let\u2019s put it this way then: There\u2019s a difference between knowing a train is coming and stepping in front of the engine as it arrives. Instead of the Rockets\u2019 other players running the offense through Durant and playing off him, they variously tried to do too much or too little. Filter out their fast-break and second-chance scoring and they would have managed a mere 64 points.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Houston could ill afford to lose any games in this series when\u00a0Don\u010di\u0107\u00a0and Reaves weren\u2019t participating, yet that\u2019s what happened. Now there is rumbling that the Slovenian backcourt star, who led the league in scoring this season, could be back as soon as Game 3.\u00a0So\u00a0the Rockets didn\u2019t just miss Durant \u2013 they missed a huge opportunity.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n 4. A Playoff Bronny sighting<\/p>\n If a fan in the stands or a viewer at home was tempted to do a double-take, well, yes, it was true: James was on the court in the second quarter of an NBA playoff game with his son Bronny. It happened in the second quarter<\/a>, when a postseason game still to be won or lost, rather than at the tail end of some hopeless blowout.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n There was James and over there, according to the name on the back of the jersey (\u201cJames Jr.\u201d), was Bronny. He was in the game for three minutes, with one turnover and two fouls in his stats line, but enough defense to end the night with a plus-3.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was on the floor with my son. In a playoff game. That\u2019s probably the craziest thing that\u2019s ever happened to me in my career,\u201d the elder James said. \u201cIt was so cool to be out there with him,\u00a0[with]\u00a0his brother and his sister and his mom in the building.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnd his grandma.\u00a0My\u00a0mom gets to watch her son and her grandson during the playoffs. That\u2019s crazy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0* * *<\/p>\n Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him\u00a0here<\/a>, find\u00a0his archive here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0follow him on X<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n