LeBron James proved during Game 2 that he could still unlock the height of his powers when required.

Without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the Lakers are the talk of the NBA Playoffs. Los Angeles has taken a commanding 2-0 lead over the Houston Rockets after a narrow win on Tuesday night.

James has been stellar in this series. But in Game 2, his 28 points in 39 minutes helped power the Lakers over the Rockets, who had returned Kevin Durant from injury.

Durant hasn’t beaten James in an NBA Playoff game without Stephen Curry since 2011. When James takes a 2-0 lead in an NBA Playoff series, his teams are 32-0. This spells real trouble for the Rockets, who will return home for Game 3 on Friday evening.

James was spectacular in Game 2. Even though his son, Bronny, stole some of the attention in Game 1 for throwing his dad a few entry passes in the NBA Playoffs, the 41-year-old has been phenomenal without Doncic and Reaves, the top two scorers on the Lakers.

The Rockets came into this series as heavy favorites, priced at -600 to -750 on most major sportsbooks. Now, the popular prediction market, Kalshi, gives the Rockets just 46% probability of winning this series.

Of course, when this thing flips back to Texas, and Durant gets his legs back under him, the Rockets could still turn this thing around. Without Doncic and Reaves, the Lakers have been leaning almost completely on James to lead them to victory. For two games, it worked. There’s no guarantee that it can hold up.

Regardless of that, what James has done in these first two games is remarkable. He has 80 25/5/5 statlines in the NBA Playoffs since he turned 30. He had 75 of those games before he turned 30. Michael Jordan had 73 of those games in his entire career.

James has completely lapped his peers. Carmelo Anthony was celebrated earlier this year for an induction into the basketball hall of fame. Chris Paul was somewhat abruptly forced into retirement.

Other aging NBA stars, including Curry and Kawhi Leonard, are already enjoying the NBA Playoffs from home. It’s supposed to be a young man’s league dominated by teams like the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs.

But old man James might have something to say about that. In just two nights, the Lakers have flipped from +10000 to win the Western Conference to +2500.

If James can keep this up for two more victories and eliminate Durant’s Rockets, it’ll be one of the coolest stories that the NBA Playoffs have ever seen. Sure, it’s just the first round. But James handling business without Doncic and Reaves, at his advanced age, is insane.

On Tuesday night, James threw down a reverse windmill dunk. He was moving around like a player in their early 30s – not early 40s. Prior to this series, there was a report that indicated that James doesn’t want a farewell tour and the pressure that comes with it. But this display in the postseason will only make fans want one more season, as it’ll feel like James would be stepping away from the game with plenty of gas in the tank if he decides to retire.

He’s an NBA legend that has nothing to prove. He has all of the records. He has all of the accolades. But enjoy what he’s doing right now. No 41-year-old has ever done this, and it likely will never happen again.

Teams at opposite ends of the American League East standings will meet Wednesday when the visiting New York Yankees take on the Boston Red Sox in the second game of a three-game series.

The Yankees have a five-game lead over the last-place Red Sox following Tuesday night’s 4-0 victory. It was the first time the Red Sox failed to score against the Yankees since 2022, and the first time the Yankees shut out the Red Sox at Fenway Park since 2020.

Boston was limited to four hits in the loss, one of which was an infield single in the ninth inning. It was the fifth time the Red Sox have had four hits or fewer in a game this season.

“Willson (Contreras) in the first inning, Narvy (Carlos Narvaez), the line drive to right-center, but besides that I don’t think we hit the ball hard at all,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We swung a lot.

“It was fast in the middle innings for him, for Gil (Yankees starting pitcher Luis Gil). That’s it. We didn’t put pressure on him. He threw strikes, probably more than usual, but you still have to play the game and trust the fact that he’s not a strike thrower. We got some pitches to hit.”

Boston is averaging 3.87 runs per game this season.

Giancarlo Stanton was the offensive catalyst for the Yankees on Tuesday. He hit a solo home run, had a two-run double and also hit a ball hard to center field that was caught by Ceddanne Rafaela.

“Some really good at-bats by (Stanton) tonight,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “That last one might have been his hardest one where Rafaela made an unbelievable play on a cold night. … Just some really good at-bats obviously to get us going with kind of a G-esque moonshot and then a big, long at-bat where he gets to 3-2 and is able to get a big extra-base hit for us. Obviously the difference for us tonight.”

The Yankees will enter Wednesday’s matchup having won four in a row and five of their past six.

For his career, Stanton is hitting .318 with eight home runs and 27 RBIs in 40 games at Fenway Park.

“I grew up seeing this place on TV, seeing the rivalry on TV as a kid and you kind of want to be a part of that,” Stanton said. “It’s always a fun rivalry game no matter where each team is in the standings, and so it’s just a good experience. Pure baseball place to play and you gotta raise your game in those situations.”

Wednesday’s probable pitchers are a pair of left-handers:Ranger Suarez (1-1, 3.22 ERA) for Boston and Max Fried (2-1, 2.97) for New York. Suarez is 1-1 with a 2.35 ERA in three career appearances (one start) against the Yankees. Fried is 3-1 with a 2.37 ERA in five career starts against the Red Sox.

New York’s Cody Bellinger extended his hitting streak to nine games with an eighth-inning single Tuesday.

–Field Level Media

Owners of the longest current winning streak in the majors, the Chicago Cubs will look to continue their dominant starting pitching when they face the reeling Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night.

Chicago recorded its seventh straight win with a 7-4 decision Tuesday over Philadelphia, which has lost seven games in a row.

Since Chicago’s 13-7 loss to the Phillies on April 13, the Cubs’ starters have allowed an average of 1.6 runs per outing, helping manager Craig Counsell’s club post its longest winning streak since an eight-game run in July 2023.

“The starting pitching has been the key to this,” Counsell said. “When you’re getting that deep into a game with your starters and consistently going 6 2/3, seven innings, one run each night, you’re putting your team in a really good position. You’re not making the offense do everything.”

Shota Imanaga’s seven innings of one-run ball prolonged that trend on Tuesday, and fellow left-hander Matthew Boyd (1-1, 6.75 ERA) will get his chance in the third contest of a four-game set on Wednesday.

Boyd allowed eight runs in 9 2/3 innings in a pair of starts to open the year before serving a stint on the 15-day injured list due to a left bicep strain. Making his return after one start with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, Boyd is eager to continue the club’s momentum.

“It’s been good,” he said of his time away from the big-league club. “Obviously I would have loved to be up here that whole time, but we’ve used it to clean up some mechanical stuff. After that lingering soreness passed, we dove into the mechanics and continued to work down that path. Excited to go out there tomorrow and excited to compete and help our team get a win.”

Boyd, 35, has faced the Phillies twice in his career, compiling a 2.25 ERA in a pair of no-decisions.

Philadelphia, meanwhile, is riding its worst stretch in seven years. The franchise last lost seven straight games in June 2019. The Phillies’ four runs on Tuesday matched their most across the current slide.

Slugger Kyle Schwarber was one of Philadelphia’s lone bright spots in Tuesday’s loss, connecting on his eighth home run — tied for most in the National League.

Schwarber knows the team’s season is far from over in April, but halting the extended losing streak is a necessity.

“Obviously on both sides of the ball, we’re really struggling to find our stride,” said Schwarber, who’s hitting .217. “It’s our job to keep going out there, batting, working, figuring out what we have to do. … This isn’t the start that we wanted by any means, but we have to come in and focus on the controllables.”

Left-hander Kyle Backhus (0-0, 5.40 ERA) will serve as the opener and make the first start of his career in his 40th appearance in the majors. The 28-year-old faced the Cubs twice last week, allowing one run across 2 1/3 innings.

–Field Level Media