Lakers vs. Rockets Playoff Game 1 Game Day 2026-04-18

Houston Rockets

52-30 • 22-19 road

at

Los Angeles Lakers

53-29 • 28-13 home

· 5:30 PM PT · TV: ABC

Spread: HOU -4.5 ·O/U: 209.5

Rockets

115.2 PPG

Lakers

116.3 PPG

Team Leaders

Rockets

Alperen Sengun 20.4 PPG

Alperen Sengun 8.9 RPG

Alperen Sengun 6.2 APG

Lakers

LeBron James 20.9 PPG

Deandre Ayton 8.0 RPG

LeBron James 7.2 APG

Key Matchup

LeBron James (20.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 7.2 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.6 BPG) vs Alperen Sengun (20.4 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 6.2 APG, 1.2 SPG, 1.1 BPG)

Injury Report

Rockets

Out: Kevin Durant

Out: Steven Adams

Out: Fred VanVleet

Lakers

Out: Austin Reaves

Out: Luka Doncic

Season Series: LAL win 2-1

West 1st Round - Game 1. The Lakers (28-13 at home) host the Rockets, who are 22-19 on the road. HOU is favored by 4.5 points.

Game 1 — how should the Lakers approach this series? Who should get more playing time?

If we can steal one game before Luka’s return, that may determine the series. If we go down 0-2 right away, we are in bad shape. I am really hoping that after the last game, Dalton has some confidence back and he gets back to that form that we witnessed last season around Christmas time where he was drilling 3’s left, right, and center. We need that guy and JJ needs to play him.

His problem is called Laziness, nothing else. JMHO!

It is hard to believe that the Rockets will have five players out including two of their better players in Durant and Sengun. If Daves posting is correct, then I give the Lakers a good chance of taking game one.

According to the latest injury report for the Rockets, only two are injured and will not play. Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams will not play. The rest are all healthy and ready to face the Lakers.

So the Rockets are favored by 4.5 points.

Lakers will have to play tough defense, and do not turn the ball over so many times.

Put this in the wrong area…

I’ve read a few reports that Luka and Austin will not return for the first round, which means, there will only be a first round. Was hoping to get those guys back by game 3, but it’s not looking promising. I feel like the Lakers brass have already scrapped the season after that embarrassing loss against the Thunder that basically destroyed the team. Maybe they are already thinking about next season.

The Rockets starters are out in their entirely? 4 out of 5? Wow!

The Rockets starters are out in their entirely? 4 out of 5? Wow!

I don’t know if that’s true.

That is not true! Just watch, the only two that are out are Adams, and VanFleet.

That is exactly what I have read aside from Durant being "questionable". Lets be real, he's playing. Rockets are not holding back on a Lakers team that has no f'ing firepower without Luka and Austin. Honestly, the Lakers need this time to reflect and starting thinking about building a team that can compete with the Thunder next season. Healthy or not, this isn't it.

So KD is out which is huge....

If our bigs can contain Sengun, the advantage flips to the lakers.

Ya, that is big. Was kinda hoping to have Luka and Austin back this series, but it’s not sounding promising.

Lakers up by two at the half. Four turn overs in a row for the Lakers to lose their eight point lead they had. Got to stop the turn overs in the second half if they want to win.

Bronny played a few minutes, but he did not score and he turned the ball over one time.

Need some scoring from LaRavia and more from Smart. I think the Lakers also need to feed the ball more to Ayton. So far he has scored every time he has gotten the ball.

May this shooting continue into the rest of the serious.

The lakers would have won this game including KD with this sort of all round playing.

From the outset, the Lakers defense has been solid and the offense conservative and steady. That's a series victory approach...

Great shot Ayton...

Good game by Kennard, Ayton, LeBron. They could have used a little more help from others, but the defense by everyone was solid. Now lets win the second game and protect our home court.

The Rockets out rebounded the Lakers on the offensive boards 21-3! That's a very negative reflection upon Ayton who played well otherwise.