{"id":1895722,"date":"2026-04-22T05:21:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T02:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1895722"},"modified":"2026-04-22T05:21:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T02:21:14","slug":"lebron-lakers-take-game-2-over-rockets-spoil-kevin-durants-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1895722","title":{"rendered":"LeBron, Lakers take Game 2 over Rockets, spoil Kevin Durant\u2019s return"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the first postseason meeting between LeBron James and Kevin Durant outside of the NBA Finals, James and the Los Angeles Lakers came out on top.<\/p>\n

James scored 28 points \u2014 including 14 in the fourth quarter \u2014 to propel the Lakers to a 101-94 win over Durant and the Houston Rockets.<\/p>\n

Durant scored 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the first half and finished with 23 points and nine rebounds. Much like in Game 1, the Lakers never built a comfortable cushion, but they consistently kept the Rockets at arm\u2019s length.<\/p>\n

Game 3 is Friday in Houston.<\/p>\n

Here are our immediate takeaways from Los Angeles<\/em><\/p>\n

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KD vs. LeBron in the playoffs? Yes, please<\/h2>\n

Even if James and Durant had become shadows of their former selves, hanging on in the late stages of their legendary careers, logging 15 minutes a night, it would have been fun to see them share the playoff stage again for the first time in eight years. But this was not that. Not even close.<\/p>\n

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All these years later, the 41-year-old James and 37-year-old Durant were still trading proverbial punches, still the most important players on their respective teams (with Luka Don\u010di\u0107 out for the Lakers, of course). In that respect, it was just like the old days.<\/p>\n

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James finished with a team-high 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, including a wide-open dunk with 55 seconds left that put the Lakers up seven and all but sealed it. Durant, who missed Game 1 with a right knee injury suffered in practice, had a team-high 23 points, six rebounds and four assists, though he was limited to just three points in the second half and had nine turnovers for the game.<\/p>\n

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In another way, this matchup was entirely different from those that came before. This marked the first time James and Durant faced off in the postseason while playing in the same conference, with all 14 of their previous meetings coming during the finals. In 2012, James\u2019 Miami Heat beat Durant\u2019s Oklahoma City Thunder in six games. In 2017 and 2018, Durant\u2019s Warriors beat James\u2019 Cavaliers in five and four, respectively. Durant still holds the overall lead, with a 9-6 record against James in the postseason. \u2014 Sam Amick, senior NBA writer \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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The Marcus Smart game<\/h2>\n

You can\u2019t waste a Marcus Smart game.<\/p>\n

Of all the Lakers most excited to play meaningful basketball, the veteran guard, who had previously been spending his post-Boston career in Memphis and Washington \u2014 has openly talked about wanting another shot at the playoffs.<\/p>\n

With the Lakers struggling early in Game 2, Smart helped shift the tone. He stripped Durant and dove for a loose ball, then followed it with timely shooting, quickly pushing his fingerprint on the game.<\/p>\n

It was the 110th playoff game of his career. He closed it with big shots, key free throws and a massive steal, finishing with 25 points, his highest playoff total since 2020. \u2014 Dan Woike, Lakers writer\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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\n Marcus Smart set the tone with 17 first-half points, hitting 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. (Jayne Kamin \/ Oncea-Imagn Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Durant stalls<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s almost impossible to envision Durant having more turnovers than points in a half, especially in a game his team desperately needs. But that\u2019s exactly what happened in the second half of an atrocious Rockets\u2019 Game 2 loss to the Lakers.<\/p>\n

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Durant, who returned to the court after missing Game 1 with a right knee contusion, had just three points and five turnovers after halftime as the Lakers frustrated him with relentless double-teams at the top of the key and complicated zones that took away his passing lanes.<\/p>\n

The Rockets\u2019 lack of outside shooting or any real counter to the Lakers\u2019 defensive schemes \u2014 left the offense stuck for much of the night. The Rockets finished with 94 points, four fewer than they scored in Game 1 without Durant. Now they head back to Houston in an 0-2 hole, with pressure mounting on a team searching for answers. \u2014 Will Guillory, Rockets writer\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Where have we seen this before?<\/h2>\n

Sure, Durant played. But this looked like a mirror image of Game 1. Behold:<\/p>\n

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  • The Lakers scored 33 first-quarter points in both games. Luke Kennard went off early in Game 1; Marcus Smart did the same in Game 2 \u2014 with Amen Thompson guarding both times.<\/li>\n
  • The Lakers built double-digit first-half leads in both games, stretching it to 15 in Game 2.<\/li>\n
  • The Rockets responded with runs in each half, outscoring the Lakers in the middle eight minutes and cutting it to 54-51 by halftime after erasing a 15-point deficit.<\/li>\n
  • The Lakers again capitalized on Houston\u2019s putrid shooting, scoring 75 points through three quarters while holding the Rockets under 70.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The Lakers didn\u2019t manage to shoot 60 percent again. And Durant had a strong scoring first half. But Los Angeles still took advantage of nine Durant turnovers, a postseason career worst, while Houston\u2019s 3-point shooting was even worse in Game 2 (7 of 29, 24.1 percent) than in Game 1 (11 of 33, 33.3 percent).<\/p>\n

    That\u2019s two games where the Rockets needed decent shot-making to steal one on the road. Instead, the Lakers have shown that even with turnover issues, defensive rebounding lapses and a clear disadvantage in the paint, they have enough to win. With a 2-0 lead heading back to Houston, they know it. \u2014 Law Murray, NBA writer\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In the first postseason meeting between LeBron James and Kevin Durant outside of the NBA Finals, James and the Los Angeles Lakers came out on top. James scored 28 points \u2014 including 14 in the fourth quarter \u2014 to propel the Lakers to a 101-94 win over Durant and the Houston Rockets. Durant scored 20 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1895722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1895722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1895722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1895722\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1895722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1895722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1895722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}