LeBron James’ playoff experience is vast and needs to draw on all of it if he hopes to lead the Los Angeles Lakers past the Houston Rockets in the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs.
James was the Lakers’ third option for most of the 2025-26 season but was thrust back into a primary role following injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Playing shorthanded in the playoffs is nothing new for James and he showed that he’s still capable of carrying a team on his back after leading Los Angeles to a Game 1 win against Houston.
The Rockets didn’t go quietly as they kept it close in the middle of the game, but James praised his teammates for sticking to the game plan.
“I mean, I just think our composure,” James said when asked what he liked after the Game 1 win. “Obviously, we [are] going against some well-coached, super athletic [players] that cause a lot of havoc. I think our composure. When they made a run at the end of that second to cut the lead to two, we came out in that third quarter and was able to withstand that and pretty much play the game we wanted to play. We had a great game plan, and we tried to execute that as close to 48 [minutes] as possible.”
From the opening tip, it was clear that James and the Lakers were going to be the tone-setters on both ends of the floor. Offensively, James was as good as ever dictating where the basketball went and making sure to keep the Rockets off balance. Defensively, the team was great scrapping for rebounds and contesting any shots from the perimeter.
James was instrumental in the win as he recorded a double-double of 19 points and 13 assists while also adding eight rebounds in 38 minutes of action. He spent most of the first half setting the table for open teammates, but kicked into scoring mode in the second half.
While James was happy with how the Lakers prepared, he knows it was just one game and there is still more work to be done.
“We just prepared ourselves just like everything else. We had a good week of preparation. We gotta contend that it’s just one game,” James said. “We protect the home court [in] Game 1, and we gotta get better over the next 48 hours going into game two on Tuesday. I thought we just had good spirit. Everybody was in tune with what we wanted to execute, and we tried to do that.”
As a whole, the group seemed to frustrate Houston in the half court as they struggled to get any quality shots at the rim. Without Kevin Durant, Los Angeles was happy to let their opponent and try to score on contested jumpers.
James knows better than anyone that winning Game 1 offers a mental edge in a series, but he and the Lakers have more work to do to in Game 2 and beyond.
LeBron James gives key to Lakers keeping Rockets off offensive glass
The Rockets are tough and physical team that can generate extra looks thanks to their knack for offensive rebounding. In the regular season, Houston was historically good at collecting their own misses and could tilt the series against L.A. in their favor on the glass.
James knows the Lakers need to limit the Rockets on the offensive boards to win the series and he outlined how they can do that.
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