{"id":714277,"date":"2026-04-19T23:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T23:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/714277\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T23:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T23:58:09","slug":"lakers-luke-kennard-sends-clear-message-after-career-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/714277\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers’ Luke Kennard Sends Clear Message After Career Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

LeBron James<\/a> carried the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> to a Game 1 home victory over the Houston Rockets<\/a> in their playoff opener this weekend, but shooting guard Luke Kennard<\/a> was the hero of the first chapter in L.A.\u2019s 2026 postseason story.<\/p>\n

The sharpshooter came over from the Atlanta Hawks<\/a> in return for Gabe Vincent<\/a> and a second-round pick ahead of the mid-season trade deadline and averaged 9.0 points nightly<\/a> on nearly 45 percent from behind the 3-point arc over three attempts per game.<\/p>\n

Kennard upped the ante on those shooting numbers against Houston on Saturday, April 18, knocking in 9-of-13 attempts from the field and connecting on all five of his shots from deep to lead not only the Lakers, but all scorers, on the evening with 27 points<\/a>. He added four rebounds and three assists in Los Angeles\u2019 107-98 win.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, the seasoned veteran reflected on arguably the game of his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a special moment,\u201d Kennard said after the game, per SB Nation<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ve been in the NBA<\/a> for nine years. I\u2019ve had some big plays, big games, but this is up there for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means a lot. It builds confidence going into the next game,\u201d Kennard continued. \u201cTo do it, especially at a place like this playing for the Lakers on the biggest stage in basketball, it means a lot to me and what I\u2019ve done. Just credit to the work I\u2019ve put in and how I\u2019ve prepared leading up to this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luke Kennard Key to Lakers\u2019 Playoff Success in Absence of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves
\n\"Luke<\/p>\n

GettyLos Angeles Lakers shooting guard Luke Kennard<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kennard averaged 23 minutes per game in L.A. across 32 appearances during the regular season. Due to his hot shooting, as well as a hamstring injury to Luka Doncic<\/a> and an oblique strain to Austin Reaves<\/a>, Kennard played 38 minutes on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Lakers fans should expect more of the same in Game 2 in Los Angeles on Tuesday, as Doncic and Reaves are unlikely to return<\/a> to the series before a potential Game 5 \u2014 at the earliest. There is a chance that one, or both, could miss the entire series and won\u2019t be back until Round 2, assuming the Lakers can make it that far without them.<\/p>\n

L.A. shot 61 percent from the field (40-of-66) and 53 percent from deep (10-of-19) on Saturday, which will be difficult numbers to replicate moving forward, particularly given the Rockets\u2019 strength as a physical defensive team with size.<\/p>\n

LeBron James Was Elite Against Rockets Team Missing Kevin Durant
\n\"LeBron<\/p>\n

GettyLeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n

Thus, Kennard is going to have to continue playing big minutes and putting up big numbers at impressive efficiency if a shortened, minutes-wary rotation for the Lakers is to hold off a younger and more athletic team in Houston.<\/p>\n

A 41-year-old James added 19 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds in L.A.\u2019s win across 38 minutes played. Kennard\u2019s shooting off of James\u2019 playmaking\/creation will be a critical element moving forward in the first-round series.<\/p>\n

The Rockets also played without Kevin Durant<\/a> in Game 1, and his return to action could change the tide for a Houston team that was abysmal offensively without him Saturday night. The Rockets connected on just 35-of-93 shots from the field (38 percent) and 11-of-33 attempts from the 3-point line (33 percent).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LeBron James carried the Los Angeles Lakers to a Game 1 home victory over the Houston Rockets in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":714278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3794],"tags":[7,292,194,4066,6,211],"class_list":{"0":"post-714277","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-rockets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-houston","10":"tag-houston-rockets","11":"tag-houstonrockets","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-rockets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116434087887328040","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=714277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=714277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=714277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=714277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}