With Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves out to start the Los Angeles Lakers’ first-round playoff series versus the Houston Rockets and likely for the entire series, several other players had to carry the load. In Game 1 on Saturday, that is exactly what happened.
Center Deandre Ayton gave them the type of performance they needed from him with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, 11 rebounds and some active defense. Rui Hachimura scored 14 points, and veteran guard Marcus Smart had 15 points and eight assists, while LeBron James registered 19 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds.
But the offensive star of Game 1 for L.A. wasn’t even on its roster until early February. Luke Kennard, who was acquired in a midseason trade with the Atlanta Hawks, jump-started the offense with 11 first-quarter points, and he hit two key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help put the game out of reach.
He finished with a career playoff high of 27 points on 9-of-13 overall shooting and 5-of-5 from 3-point range. After the Lakers achieved a 107-98 victory, he talked about his aggressiveness as a scorer.
“It’s everybody continuing to build confidence in me to be aggressive and look for my shot whenever I can,” Kennard said. “Any daylight I’ve seen there, obviously they got some big, athletic defenders — guys that have been on me from the start of the game, trying to be physical. When I see space and the rim, I’m going to look to get it up. My teammates want me to do that. Coaches want me to do that.”
Kennard has a tendency to be selective about when he shoots the ball, especially from beyond the arc. Coach JJ Redick has publicly said he wants the guard to increase his 3-point shooting volume, and that’s what he did on Saturday.
If Kennard continues this type of assertiveness, not to mention anything approaching this type of shooting efficiency, the Rockets could be in trouble, especially if Kevin Durant, who didn’t play in Game 1 due to a knee ailment, misses at least one more contest.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Luke Kennard talks about his big performance in Game 1 vs Rockets
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
