Luke Kennard: Lakers ‘Gotta Believe In What We Have’

Almost no one could have predicted that the Los Angeles Lakers — missing both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves — would be leading the Houston Rockets 2-0 through two games of their first round playoff series. LeBron James has been the centerpiece, but it’s been the remarkable play of Luke Kennard that has propelled them.

Kennard has 50 points on 17-of-26 shooting and 8-of-11 from three through the first two games after being acquired by the Lakers for next to nothing at the trade deadline. And the veteran sharpshooter says that a mentality switch is what led the team to believe they could compete as they were.

“When they went down, we still played a few regular season games without them and we were trying to figure some things out, obviously guys in different roles, different lineups, different situations that we haven’t seen all year,” Kennard said after the Game 2 win. “Obviously I wasn’t here all year, but since I’ve been here. So everything was kind of new.

“Obviously we’re missing some big-time scoring with those guys (out) and guys have needed to step up, but we lost a couple games and we just kind of flipped a switch and told ourselves this is what we got right now and we gotta believe in what we have. We gotta push each other, elevate each other and play as hard as we can. I thought we kind of figured some things out in the regular season that kind of led into the playoffs for us and have worked for us.”

The Lakers would love to get a healthy Doncic and Reaves back into the lineup as soon as possible, of course. But, somehow, it appears the Lakers have a chance to win this series outright without them. The switch in mentality to believe that is certainly part of why Kennard has played so well in the first two games.

L.A. now faces the challenge of heading on the road and trying to win at least one of two games in Houston. If they can, they’ll firmly be in the driver’s seat to try and clinch their place in the West Semis.

Jaxson Hayes enjoying Luke Kennard’s success

One person who’s gotten a great view of Kennard’s unexpected playoff success is former Ohio high school player Jaxson Hayes. While younger than Kennard, Hayes was in high school at the same time that the sharpshooter was breaking LeBron James’ high school scoring records. And he’s happy to see him having the success he’s having now in the NBA.