What Rockets’ Amen Thompson said about getting thoroughly cooked by Luke Kennard

On Saturday evening, the Houston Rockets fell behind 0-1 in their first round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers by a score of 107-98. The Rockets played in this one without Kevin Durant, who unexpectedly sat out due to a knee injury, but they still had the overall injury advantage in this one, with the Lakers missing both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

In their absence, Lakers guard Luke Kennard stepped up big time, scoring 27 points on an efficient 9-13 from the field in the win, and after the game, Rockets wing Amen Thompson spoke on his perspective of the outburst.

“That was my matchup (Luke Kennard). He went off. I gotta be better than that. I knew what Kennard could do today but I gotta be more locked in for that matchup,” said Thompson, per Oh No He Didn’t on X, formerly Twitter.

It was some respectable accountability from Thompson, who also struggled on offense with an inefficient shooting night from the field.

Kennard was required by the Lakers from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Gabe Vincent shortly before the NBA trade deadline, and although his reputation around the league might be that of strictly a jump shooter, he put his full arsenal on display against the Rockets on Saturday, consistently finding his spots on the floor off the dribble, and also being more aggressive than usual in letting it fly from beyond the arc.

Meanwhile, the Rockets’ bigger issues on Saturday fell on offense, where they looked mostly powerless to generate any good looks in the half court without Durant in the lineup. Both Thompson and Alperen Sengun will have to be a lot better on that end of the floor moving forward, especially if Durant misses more time.

Game 2 of Rockets vs Lakers is set for Tuesday evening at 10:30 pm ET.

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