LeBron James compiled 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 101-94 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series on Tuesday.

With leading scorers Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) watching from the bench, Marcus Smart added 25 points, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range, and Game 1 hero Luke Kennard contributed 23 points, which included 3 of 6 from deep.

Kevin Durant, who missed the opening game with a right knee contusion, scored 23 points for Houston, but he had nine turnovers and was held to just three points after halftime.

Houston’s Alperen Sengun paired 20 points with 11 rebounds, Jabari Smith Jr. had 18 points and Amen Thompson posted 16 points and nine assists.

After the Rockets held a 16-12 lead midway through the first quarter, Los Angeles hit back, closing the quarter with a 9-0 rush to lead 33-26.

Durant showed no signs of being hampered by his knee, playing all 12 minutes and scoring 11 points.

At the other end, Smart (14 points) and Kennard (10 points) hurt Houston from the perimeter, combining to hit five 3-pointers in the opening quarter.

The Lakers’ lead swelled to 46-31 before Durant led a 17-3 Rockets run to trim that margin to 49-48.

Durant had 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting at the half, but Los Angeles still held sway 54-51.

Houston briefly captured the lead in the third period before the Lakers used a 13-4 burst — highlighted by a spectacular reverse dunk from 41-year-old James after he blew by Durant — to pull ahead 67-59.

With Durant held to just one unsuccessful shot attempt in 10 minutes of action for the quarter, the Rockets struggled offensively, outscored 21-17 for the period, as Los Angeles led 75-68 with one quarter to play.

Josh Okogie’s 3-pointer with 6:38 remaining in the fourth cut the gap to 85-82, but it was as close as Houston would get down the stretch.

With the Lakers up 97-92, Durant’s ninth turnover led to a powerful James dunk with 55 seconds left before Kennard sealed it from the stripe.

The best-of-seven series shifts to Houston for Game 3 on Friday.

–Field Level Media

A year after NHL viewership shrunk, the league drew its highest average television audiences in 14 years for the just-concluded regular season, Sports Business Journal and Sports Media Watch reported on Tuesday.

In games on ESPN, ABC and TNT/truTV, the NHL posted averages of 546,000 viewers, per the reports. That’s a year-on-year increase of at least 23% and a better average than all seasons since 2012-13, when NBC and NBCSN averaged 590,000.

Nielsen’s change in methodology might explain a part of the decade-plus high, as ratings across all sports are higher based on the new measurement system. NBA ratings were up 35% this year, other sports also seeing double-digit-percentage increases.

The 54 games airing on ESPN and ABC drew 760,000 viewers on average, a 30% jump from 2024-25. ESPN games in particular saw a major rating improvement, with games attracting 602,000 on average, a 48% hike from the prior season.

TNT/truTV carried 72 games that brought in 381,000 viewers on average, a rise of 21% year-on-year. Those contests saw a significant bump after Team USA won hockey gold at the Milan Olympics, as NHL viewership on TNT Sports rose to 453,000 on average following the league’s midseason break.

The top-rated NHL game of the regular season was the Stadium Series game at Tampa on Feb. 1, when the Tampa Bay Lightning edged the Boston Bruins 6-5 in a shootout. ESPN drew 2.07 million viewers for that contest, a cable-TV record for an NHL regular-season game.

NHL ratings declined in the 2024-25 season despite the league replacing the All-Star Game with the wildly popular 4 Nations Face-Off that saw Canada defeat the United States 3-2 in overtime in the final.

–Field Level Media

Nicolas Roy scored at 7:44 of overtime to lift Colorado to a 2-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday in Denver, giving the Avalanche a 2-0 lead in a Western Conference first-round playoff series.

Roy got to a loose puck in the slot and shot it through the legs of Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke and past goalie Anton Forsberg for the win.

Game 3 will be played Thursday night in Los Angeles.

Gabriel Landeskog scored the tying goal late in regulation and Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves for the Avalanche, who won the series opener 2-1 on Sunday.

During the regular season, Wedgewood led the NHL in goals-against average (2.02) and save percentage (.921).

Anton Forsberg made 34 saves for the Kings in his second career postseason start, both in the current series. He has allowed two goals or fewer in eight of his past nine starts.

Neither team scored until the final seven minutes of the third period.

The Kings were on a power play when Trevor Moore brought the puck along the goal line before making a backhand pass to Panarin just above the left hashmarks. Panarin had time to gather the puck before shooting it into the net for a 1-0 lead at 13:04.

The Avalanche tied it with 3:35 left in regulation.

Devon Toews made a diagonal pass from above the left point to Martin Necas on the opposite goal line. Necas passed the puck back through the top of the crease to Landeskog, who was cutting to the net, and he scored with a one-timer.

Kings forward Quinton Byfield was hooked by Cale Makar on a short-handed breakaway at 3:12 of the second period, resulting in a penalty shot, but Wedgewood made a lunching glove save to keep the game scoreless.

During the penalty, fans broke the glass behind the Los Angeles bench, causing shards to fall on Kings interim coach D.J. Smith. Play was halted for 19 minutes as the glass was cleaned up and replaced.

The Avalanche briefly celebrated nine seconds into the third period after defenseman Sam Malinski took a one-timer from the left point that hit the net, but replays showed the puck had stuck in the net on the outside of the left post.

–Field Level Media