Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Lakers

Apr 18, 2026

FINAL

Box Score

	1	2	3	4	T
HOU	29	19	18	32	98
LAL	33	17	25	32	107

Game Recap

Behind Luke Kennard's playoff career-high 27 points and LeBron James' 19 and 13 assists, short-handed L.A. knocks off Houston in Game 1.

Player Stats

ROCKETS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
1Amen ThompsonSF	43	7-18	0-1	3-6	7	7	3	1	2	4	0	17
10Jabari Smith Jr.PF	43	5-14	3-9	3-5	12	0	2	0	1	1	-7	16
28Alperen SengunC	35	6-19	0-2	7-9	8	6	1	1	3	5	-2	19
20Josh OkogieSG	26	2-4	1-2	2-2	0	1	2	0	0	2	-10	7
15Reed SheppardPG	35	6-20	5-14	0-0	1	8	1	1	4	2	-7	17
30Clint Capela	11	1-2	0-0	0-0	2	0	0	0	1	0	-7	2
0Aaron Holiday	10	0-4	0-2	0-0	0	0	0	0	1	2	-1	0
8Jae'Sean Tate	9	1-5	0-1	2-2	4	0	1	0	0	2	-5	4
17Tari Eason	23	7-7	2-2	0-1	10	2	3	0	1	4	-6	16
4JD Davison	— did not play —												— did not play —
7Kevin Durant	— did not play —												— did not play —
2Dorian Finney-Smith	— did not play —												— did not play —
32Jeff Green	— did not play —												— did not play —
TOTAL	-	35-9337.6%	11-3333.3%	17-2568.0%	44	24	13	3	13	22	-	98

LAKERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
23LeBron JamesSF	38	9-15	1-2	0-2	8	13	2	1	2	3	+11	19
28Rui HachimuraPF	41	6-10	2-4	0-0	2	0	3	2	2	3	+7	14
5Deandre AytonC	35	8-10	0-0	3-3	11	2	0	1	3	1	+7	19
36Marcus SmartSG	33	5-12	1-5	4-8	2	8	1	2	5	4	-5	15
10Luke KennardPG	38	9-13	5-5	4-6	4	3	0	0	3	1	+7	27
12Jake LaRavia	18	1-3	0-1	4-4	2	3	1	1	1	2	+9	6
2Jarred Vanderbilt	18	1-2	1-2	0-0	5	0	0	0	0	5	+4	3
11Jaxson Hayes	12	1-1	0-0	2-3	1	0	0	1	1	4	+2	4
9Bronny James	3	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	1	2	+3	0
14Maxi Kleber	— did not play —												— did not play —
4Dalton Knecht	— did not play —												— did not play —
20Nick Smith Jr.	— did not play —												— did not play —
1Adou Thiero	— did not play —												— did not play —
TOTAL	-	40-6660.6%	10-1952.6%	17-2665.4%	35	29	7	8	18	25	-	107

Play-by-Play

Scores OnlyExpand All

1st quarterHOULAL

(11:56) Jump Ball Ayton vs. Sengun: Tip to L. James
(11:44) Smart Bad Pass Turnover (P1.T1)
(11:44) Okogie STEAL (1 STL)
(11:42) Smart S.FOUL (P1.T1) (J.Capers)
+1 (11:42) Okogie Free Throw 1 of 2 (1 PTS)
10
+1 (11:42) Okogie Free Throw 2 of 2 (2 PTS)
20
+2 (11:20) Ayton 5' Turnaround Hook Shot (2 PTS) (Smart 1 AST)
22
+2 (10:59) Thompson Driving Layup (2 PTS)
42
+2 (10:39) Kennard 21' Jump Shot (2 PTS) (L. James 1 AST)
44
(10:27) MISS Thompson 5' Driving Floating Jump Shot
(10:25) Ayton REBOUND (Off:0 Def:1)
+2 (10:06) Hachimura 19' Pullup Jump Shot (2 PTS) (Smart 2 AST)
46
(9:53) MISS Sheppard 26' 3PT Step Back Jump Shot
(9:51) Smith Jr. REBOUND (Off:1 Def:0)
(9:50) L. James P.FOUL (P1.T2) (T.Ford)
(9:38) MISS Smith Jr. 28' 3PT Step Back Jump Shot
(9:38) LAKERS Rebound
+2 (9:24) L. James 22' Step Back Jump Shot (2 PTS)
48
(9:05) Sengun 3 Second Violation Turnover (P1.T1)
(8:55) MISS Smart 27' 3PT Jump Shot
(8:52) Rockets Rebound
(8:37) MISS Sengun 9' Turnaround Hook Shot
(8:34) L. James REBOUND (Off:0 Def:1)
+2 (8:31) Smart 8' Running Layup (2 PTS) (L. James 2 AST)
410
+3 (8:19) Smith Jr. 24' 3PT Jump Shot (3 PTS) (Thompson 1 AST)
710
+2 (8:04) L. James 13' Fadeaway Jumper (4 PTS) (Smart 3 AST)
712
(7:57) MISS Thompson 3' Driving Layup
(7:57) Smart BLOCK (1 BLK)
(7:57) Ayton REBOUND (Off:0 Def:2)
(7:57) Sengun P.FOUL (P1.T1) (E.Malloy)
+2 (7:45) Ayton 13' Jump Shot (4 PTS) (L. James 3 AST)
714
+2 (7:24) Sengun 13' Turnaround Fadeaway (2 PTS)
914
+3 (7:09) Hachimura 26' 3PT Jump Shot (5 PTS) (L. James 4 AST)
917
+3 (6:50) Okogie 27' 3PT Jump Shot (5 PTS) (Sengun 1 AST)
1217
(6:29) MISS Smart 25' 3PT Pullup Jump Shot
(6:26) Thompson REBOUND (Off:0 Def:1)
+2 (6:18) Sengun 1' Driving Layup (4 PTS) (Thompson 2 AST)
1417
(6:11) LAKERS Timeout: Regular (Full 1 Short 0)
+2 (5:58) Kennard 4' Driving Bank Hook Shot (4 PTS) (L. James 5 AST)
1419
+2 (5:42) Sheppard 12' Pullup Jump Shot (2 PTS)
1619
+2 (5:25) LaRavia 3' Driving Layup (2 PTS) (L. James 6 AST)
1621
+3 (5:15) Sheppard 26' 3PT Jump Shot (5 PTS) (Thompson 3 AST)
1921
+2 (4:57) Ayton 7' Alley Oop Dunk (6 PTS) (L. James 7 AST)
1923
+2 (4:33) Capela 4' Turnaround Bank Hook Shot (2 PTS) (Sheppard 1 AST)
2123
+3 (4:14) Kennard 28' 3PT Jump Shot (7 PTS) (LaRavia 1 AST)
2126
+3 (3:58) Smith Jr. 24' 3PT Jump Shot (6 PTS) (Sheppard 2 AST)
2426
(3:38) MISS Kennard 3' Cutting Layup Shot
(3:38) Thompson BLOCK (1 BLK)
(3:36) Smith Jr. REBOUND (Off:1 Def:1)
(3:19) MISS Thompson 16' Step Back Jump Shot
(3:15) L. James REBOUND (Off:0 Def:2)
+2 (3:11) Kennard 10' Running Pull-Up Jump Shot (9 PTS) (L. James 8 AST)
2428
(2:52) Capela Bad Pass Turnover (P1.T2)
(2:52) L. James STEAL (1 STL)
(2:52) Rockets Timeout: Regular (Reg.1 Short 0)
+2 (2:31) Hayes 2' Cutting Finger Roll Layup Shot (2 PTS) (Smart 4 AST)
2430
(2:31) Holiday S.FOUL (P1.T2) (J.Capers)
(2:31) MISS Hayes Free Throw 1 of 1
(2:28) Eason REBOUND (Off:0 Def:1)
(2:14) MISS Smith Jr. 4' Cutting Layup Shot
(2:12) Eason REBOUND (Off:1 Def:1)
(2:10) Holiday Lost Ball Turnover (P1.T3)
(2:10) LaRavia STEAL (1 STL)
(2:06) Kennard Lost Ball Turnover (P1.T2)
(2:06) Eason STEAL (1 STL)
+2 (2:00) Smith Jr. 15' Pullup Jump Shot (8 PTS)
2630
+2 (1:43) Kennard 15' Fadeaway Jumper (11 PTS) (LaRavia 2 AST)
2632
(1:24) MISS Sengun 3' Turnaround Hook Shot
(1:22) Sengun REBOUND (Off:1 Def:0)
(1:22) MISS Holiday 26' 3PT Jump Shot
(1:22) Rockets Rebound
(1:22) LaRavia L.B.FOUL (P1.T3) (J.Capers)
(1:08) Eason Lost Ball Turnover (P1.T4)
(1:08) Smart STEAL (1 STL)
(1:08) Jump Ball Hayes vs. Eason: Tip to Sengun
(1:08) Hayes Lost Ball Turnover (P1.T3)
(1:08) Eason STEAL (2 STL)
(0:58) MISS Holiday 25' 3PT Jump Shot
(0:56) Rockets Rebound
(0:56) Jump Ball LaRavia vs. Sengun: Tip to Eason
+2 (0:48) Sengun 2' Cutting Layup Shot (6 PTS) (Thompson 4 AST)
2832
(0:48) Hayes S.FOUL (P1.PN) (J.Capers)
+1 (0:48) Sengun Free Throw 1 of 1 (7 PTS)
2932
(0:34) Holiday S.FOUL (P2.T3) (E.Malloy)
+1 (0:34) Smart Free Throw 1 of 2 (3 PTS)
2933
(0:34) MISS Smart Free Throw 2 of 2
(0:32) Eason REBOUND (Off:1 Def:2)
(0:21) Sengun Traveling Turnover (P2.T5)
(0:01) MISS L. James 10' Turnaround Fadeaway Shot
(0:00) Smith Jr. REBOUND (Off:1 Def:2)

2nd quarter

3rd quarter

4th quarter

Team Stats

HOU

LAL

98Points107

35-93(37.6%)Field Goal(%)40-66(60.6%)

11-33(33.3%)3-Point(%)10-19(52.6%)

17-25(68.0%)Free Throw(%)17-26(65.4%)

44(21)Rebounds(Offensive)35(3)

24Assists29

13Steals7

3Blocks8

13Turnovers18

22Fouls25

44Pts In The Paint40

11Fast Break Pts4

24Pts Off Turnovers5

22Bench Pts13

2Largest Lead16

Game Details

Saturday, April 18, 2026 · 8:30 PM

Crypto.com Arena · Los Angeles, CA

attendance: 19,057 (99.9%)

tv: ABC