What LeBron James found ‘insane’ about Game 1 win vs. Rockets

LOS ANGELES – With Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves sidelined indefinitely, it meant that other players on the roster were going to get an opportunity to be part of the Los Angeles Lakers’ playoff rotation. Through the week of practice leading up to Game 1 against the Rockets, head coach JJ Redick settled on Bronny James to be part of the playoff lineup. During the Lakers’ Game 1 win, Bronny got a chance to be on the court with his dad, LeBron James.

It marked the first time in NBA history that a father and son duo got to share the court during the playoffs. And following the Lakers’ Game 1 win against the Rockets, LeBron James spoke about how “insane” it was to get to play with Bronny in a postseason setting.

“There was a lot of crazy things going on this year for me. I mean, s**t, I was on the floor with my son in a playoff game. That’s probably the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me in my career,” LeBron said. “So cool to be out there with him and his brother and sister and his mom in the building, and his grandma, that’s just insane. That’s crazy.”

Bronny played only four minutes in Game 1 and the only stat he finished with was one turnover. But he was overall steady during his stint aside from a couple of passing errors. It’s his first playoff experience after not being in the rotation last season, and he’s learning on the fly.

“We all prepared this week, including Bronny. Just like everybody in their first playoff game, you’re gonna be nervous. You can try to prepare for it, you can sleep as much as you can the night before, do all the things you do, the same routine and everything,” James said.

“I remember my first in 2006 going against Washington, our first home game, being back in the playoffs in a minute, in a long time with the Cavs, and you’re just nervous as hell. Soon as I got on the floor I was super nervous. You get the jitters out, get that first game under your belt and you kind of know what to expect. He’ll be better going into the next time he gets his number called.”

As for LeBron himself, he did a little bit of both scoring and playmaking, finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds and 13 assists in 38 minutes. He was a game-high +11 and he had his fingerprints all over the win.

The longer Doncic and Reaves remain out, the more the Lakers are going to need performances like this from LeBron to win. But what was encouraging was that he wasn’t even the team’s leading scorer. He was tied with Deandre Ayton who also finished with 19 points.

It was Luke Kennard who led the way with a playoff career-high of 27 points. But it was a balanced effort all around as Marcus Smart had 15 points and Rui Hachimura added 14 points.

If the Lakers’ role players can score at this efficiency, allowing LeBron to pick and choose his spots, that bodes well for their overall chances in this series despite being short-handed.

Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena before the series shifts to Houston.

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