NBA Play-offs: LeBron James thanks Luke Kennard: first one goes to LA Lakers

The NBA playoff spectacle has finally begun. Among the most anticipated series was the one between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets. The first act had an unexpected protagonist. Bringing their star player Luka Doncic and also Austin Reaves, the Los Angeles Lakers found the classic hero you don’t expect.

Luke Kennard scored 27 points, his career high in the playoffs, LeBron James put up 19, with 13 assists, and the Los Angeles Lakers, despite being without some key players, took advantage of Kevin Durant’s injury absence to win 107-98 against the Houston Rockets in the first game of a series that promises sparks.

“That’s what it’s supposed to be: a team effort,” the words, reported by ESPN, of Lebron James, 41, after starting his 19th NBA playoff season. “When you lack so much firepower like you do now, with AR (Reaves) and Luka (Doncic) out, we all have to do our best and maybe a little bit more, protect each other on offense and defense, and I think we’ve accomplished that.”

In the other contests, Cleveland easy against Toronto (126-113) while Denver prevailed over Minnesota: 116-105 the final (triple double for Jokic). New York also did well, getting the better of the first challenge of the series against Atlanta (113-102).