LeBron James and the No. 4 seed Los Angeles Lakers took care of business in their opening game of the 2026 NBA Playoffs, defeating the No. 5 seed Houston Rockets, who were without Kevin Durant, 107-98 in Game 1 of the first-round matchup. Now, the Lakers will look to take a 2-0 series lead as they face the Rockets in Game 2 on Tuesday night.
With both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves out of Game 1 with injuries, LeBron was forced to take on a heavier workload in the win over Houston. And the 41-year-old forward delivered, tallying 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting, eight rebounds and 13 assists in 38 minutes of action. But it was Luke Kennard who may have been Los Angeles' best player, tallying a team-high 27 points.
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As the first round of the NBA playoffs got underway, the league conducted its draft tiebreakers for non-lottery teams, a process decided by a coin flip. The Lakers, who closed the regular season with a 53-29 record, ended up tied with the New York Knicks, also a playoff team, in the 2026 NBA Draft order.
Los Angeles and New York settled their tie in the 2026 NBA Draft order with a coin flip to decide the No. 24 and No. 25 picks, the winner earning the higher selection. And on Monday, the Lakers lost the tiebreaker and will pick No. 25 overall, while the Knicks secured the No. 24 pick.
"The Lakers have lost their tiebreaker with the Knicks and will have the 25th pick in the NBA draft instead of 24th," Lakers Nation's Trevor Lane wrote on X.
The Lakers will take on the Rockets in Game 2 on Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. ET.
