LeBron James said on April 19 that he was pleased with the Los Angeles Lakers’ composure during their Game 1 victory against the Houston Rockets in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
James, who had shifted back into a primary role following injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, played a central part in leading the team. He recorded a double-double with 19 points and 13 assists, along with eight rebounds in 38 minutes. “I mean, I just think our composure,” James said after the game. “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.”
Throughout much of the season, James served as a third option for Los Angeles but took on more responsibility due to his teammates’ absences. In Game 1, he focused on distributing early before switching into scoring mode after halftime.
James also spoke about how important preparation was for their performance: “We just prepared ourselves just like everything else. We had a good week of preparation. We gotta contend that it’s just one game,” he 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.”
The Lakers’ defense worked effectively against Houston’s offense by contesting shots from outside and battling for rebounds throughout much of the night.
Looking ahead at challenges posed by Houston’s offensive rebounding ability—an area where they excelled during regular season—James acknowledged limiting those opportunities would be key if Los Angeles hopes to advance further.
