LeBron scores 28, leads short-handed Lakers past Durant's Rockets again 101-94 for 2-0 series lead
LeBron James had 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers outlasted the Houston Rockets for a 101-94 victory and a stunning 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James had 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers outlasted the Houston Rockets for a 101-94 victory Tuesday night and a stunning 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.
Marcus Smart had 25 points with five 3-pointers and seven assists for the Lakers, who have twice overcome the absences of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves with a comprehensive team effort led by the 41-year-old James. Los Angeles did it in Game 2 despite the return of Kevin Durant, who scored just three of his 23 points in the second half against the Lakers' tenacious defense.
“We executed the game plan offensively and defensively, shored up some of our mistakes from Game 1, and just got into a dogfight,” James said. “When we have two big guns out like we have, we've all got to pick up our play, and that's all it's about. We're all just trying to make contributions on offense and seize the opportunity.”
Luke Kennard scored 23 points for Los Angeles, which nursed a small lead throughout the fourth quarter of Game 2. Smart found James streaking down the lane for a theatrical two-handed dunk with 55 seconds left, and Kennard added two late free throws to ice it.
Game 3 is Friday in Houston.
Alperen Sengun had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the fifth-seeded Rockets, who again struggled offensively even with Durant making his Houston playoff debut. Jabari Smith Jr. scored 18 points and Amen Thompson had 16, but the Rockets made only 40.4% of their shots and managed just seven 3-pointers.
Three days after he missed the series opener with a right knee bruise, Durant took only 12 shots and had nine turnovers to begin his fourth career playoff matchup against James. The superstars previously met in the NBA Finals in 2012, 2017 and 2018.
Recommended for you
“They started doubling me from possession one,” Durant said. “I’ve got to do better and not put my teammates in bad positions when I’m swinging the ball. ... We're just not making shots, to be honest. We're not shooting the ball well. We're missing a lot of layups. I just think that's the difference in the game. They're making shots. Smart was the guy that knocked down shots for them today. Kennard, too.”
Durant blocked Kennard’s shot on the first possession of Game 2, but then got in early foul trouble while the Lakers again streaked to a large first-half lead.
The Lakers are getting exceptional postseason play from Smart, the longtime Celtics guard who joined Los Angeles this season. Although he missed much of the regular-season stretch run due to injury, Smart has immediately added toughness and playmaking acumen to the Lakers' supporting cast.
“He just had a killer game tonight,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said of Smart. “He did a great job defensively. He made shots. He's an unbelievable player.”
Both Smart and Kennard went 8 for 13 from the field, combining for eight 3-pointers..
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.