LOS ANGELES — Kevin Durant was back for the Rockets. That made the marquee matchup “LeBron James vs. Durant,” a showdown of two of the all-time greats.
LeBron winning that showdown is not why the Lakers are up 2-0 in their series with the Rockets. It’s because of their defense, which forced nine Durant turnovers. And it’s because the Lakers have Marcus Smart and Luke Kennard. That starting backcourt — forced into action because of the injuries sidelining Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves — combined for 48 points on Tuesday night, made huge defensive plays and 3-pointers, which proved to be the difference.
That Lakers’ defense held Durant to three points in the second half and hung on at the end for a 101-94 win that has them holding serve on their home court. The Lakers are up 2-0 as the series heads to Houston on Friday night.
LeBron earned his share of the spotlight, finishing the night with 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. He even had a reverse dunk at age 41.
“I don’t even know what that was about,” LeBron said postgame, shaking his head.
The biggest difference in this series through two games is that while both teams are missing key starters — the Rockets have been without point guard Fred VanVleet all season and also don’t have center Steven Adams — it’s the Lakers who have had players step up and fill the roles of their missing stars. LeBron had nothing but praise for Smart and Kennard.
“He’s battle tested,” LeBron said of Smart. “Guy has been to the Finals, been in multiple playoff games, big games in his career. So obviously, he’s not afraid of the moment, and he’s always been assigned with some of the best players ever played this game in his career. So to have someone like that, it just brings a lot of composure to our team.”
Smart finished with 25 points, seven assists and five steals, most of those against Kevin Durant, who he guarded much of the night. Kennard finished with 23 points and six rebounds, but did so much more as a playmaker and passer.
“He’s a sniper, we understand that, but he does so much more,” LeBron said of Kennard. “He does so much more and I think that’s what keeps defenses off balance. Sometimes you fall into the fact that he shoots 50 (percent) from 3, and you think that sometimes that’s all he can do, but he is so much more than that.”
Durant scored 20 points in the first half, but in the second the Lakers threw multiple bodies and different looks at the future Hall of Famer, trying to force the ball out of his hands. It worked, Durant had just three points in the second 24 minutes.
Nobody else on the Rockets stepped up. Alperen Sengun had a good box score game with 20 points and 11 rebounds, but that doesn’t tell the story of his struggles — he missed bunnies all night and finished 9-of-19 in the paint. The Lakers would double-team Sengun when he had the ball in the post, and he would freeze, which cut off a lot of how the Rockets wanted to score in the halfcourt.
The Lakers’ defense also doesn’t fear the Rockets’ ball handlers or shooters, and Houston isn’t making them pay. As a team, the Rockets shot just 24.1% from 3 — Houston needs to hope that home cooking improves their shooting and changes the dynamic of their role players getting outplayed.
“I thought our guys at least matched their sense of desperation, or second efforts, or multiple efforts, all that stuff,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “I mean, you got to win a bunch of little fights. That could be your catch position offensively, that could be your screens, that could be creating separation, that could be boxing out. But this team requires you to win a bunch of little fights.”
The Lakers need to win just two more games to have won the big fight. The Rockets need to show some fight at home, or this is going to be a short series.
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