Stroke of Luke, and luck

Series upset? Anything is possible now

- BILL PLASCHKE

Photographs by ALLEN J. SCHABEN Los Angeles Times LUKE Kennard gets love from Deandre Ayton after making one of his three threes in the fourth quarter of Game 1. Kennard had 27 points.

The Lakers limped painfully into the playoffs Saturday night only to delightfully discover a miracle salve.

An opponent as mangled as they were.

Yes, the Lakers are beginning this tournament seriously hampered by the indefinite absences of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

But surprise, surprise - the Houston Rockets showed up with a bad leg of their own, a recently suffered knee contusion that sidelined leading scorer Kevin Durant for at least the first game of this firstround series.

The result? Check out the widemouthed scream unleashed by the Lakers' Luke Kennard midway through the fourth quarter.

The Lakers: loud and surprising and inspiring.

The Rockets: none of the above.

No Durant meant no Lakers problem, a potentially tough battle never appearing in doubt, the Lakers earning a 107-98 victory at Crypto.​com Arena that represented the triumph of connection over confusion.

The Lakers were connected, apparently having had time to adjust to the loss of their two leading scorers, LeBron James acting as a brilliant playmaker for scorching hot shooters like Kennard, who hit all five of his treys in scoring a playoff career-high 27 points.

The Rockets were confused, Durant being a late scratch and their attack being lost without him, Reed Sheppard and Amen Thompson combining for 38 shots and a bunch of misses.

At one end, the Lakers were perfectly executing, the 41-year-old James becoming the oldest player to have 13 assists in a playoff game, Deandre Ayton missing only two of 10 shots inside, so much nifty passing, so many open looks.

On the other end, the Rockets were a complete mess, dissolving in two whining technical fouls in the third quarter that sealed their fate.