The Lakers could actually win this thing.
They went from being the quivering dogs in the corner to becoming wolves.
The transformation happened 1 ½ hours before tipoff when they found out that Kevin Durant was sidelined for Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Rockets because of a right knee injury.
It meant a team without Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) had a more even fight. It meant a team without its top two scorers had a chance. It meant a team that was dejected started believing in itself again.
The Lakers went on to win, 107-98.
The Rockets have no idea how to play without Durant. He played in 78 games this season. He missed only four contests.
His strength has now become the Rockets’ weakness.
Before tipoff, the Rockets’ locker room was silent.
Guys were looking at their phones. Or the carpet. It felt as though they were steeling themselves for a wake instead of a playoff game.
Durant suffered the injury at a team practice Wednesday after bumping knees with a teammate. He went through a pregame workout Saturday. The knee didn’t respond well.
“Hopefully it’s a one-game thing,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said before the game.
Hopefully?
This changes everything. The Lakers could win this thing now.
Funny enough, the only superstar on the court Saturday was the only guy in NBA history to reach Season 23.
LeBron James had 10 assists in the first half, tying his career high for assists in any half of a playoff game. He finished with 19 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds.
Then there was Luke Kennard, who had a playoff career-high 27 points on 9-for-13 shooting, including going 5-for-5 from beyond the arc.
But really, the win was by committee. Every Lakers starter scored in double figures. They outshot the Rockets 60.6% to 37.6% from the field and 52.6% to 33.3% from beyond the arc.
“It has to be a collective group,” James said. “When you’re missing so much firepower, like we are right now with AR and Luka being out, we all have to pitch in. We all have to do our job. And even do a little bit more. Protect one another offensively and defensively and I think we did that tonight.”
The Lakers were really good. They played together. This might really be happening.
If they can get past the Rockets, they have a good shot at getting Doncic and Reaves back. If that happens, anything could happen. Heck, they were considered championship contenders after going on a 16-2 run before losing their two best players in the same game with five regular-season contests left.
They were crushed. Dejected. Lost.
Now, they’re believers again. But in the end, it all comes down to Durant’s knee. If he’s healthy, the scale will drastically tip again.
Udoka said Durant got imaging on his knee, adding the injury was “nothing major.”
“It’s very tender,” Udoka said. “Tough to bend in certain ways. Not a lot of swelling. But [someone] hit him in a very awkward spot, I guess. … Right above the knee, patellar tendon area, it’s just very tender. Like I said, pain tolerance is one thing. But actually limited movement is more of the cause.”
That doesn’t sound great.
Durant doesn’t miss games because he’s slightly banged up. He plays through bumps and bruises and discomfort. You don’t miss fewer than a handful of games in a season at age 37 otherwise.
If Durant doesn’t return soon, the Lakers could really pull this off.
It’s stunning. It’s shocking.
But for this team, those words have defined their season.
And this is just the latest curveball.
