Houston Rockets vs Lakers Match Player Stats and Top Performers

Houston Rockets vs Lakers match player stats show a rivalry that tilted toward Los Angeles in 2026, with standout individual performances on both sides. The Lakers beat Houston 4-2 in the first round of the playoffs, and the two teams also met several times in the 2025-26 regular season. Since then, both rosters have changed. LeBron James left Los Angeles for Philadelphia, and the Rockets opened the 2026-27 season with a 5-1 record through October 30. This guide breaks down the verified player numbers from the recent games, explains who drove each result, and shows what to watch when the teams meet again on November 30, 2026. Every figure comes from published box scores and game reports, so you can use it as a quick reference before the next tipoff.

Rockets vs Lakers Last Game Player Stats at a Glance

The most recent Rockets vs Lakers game was Game 6 of the 2026 first-round series on May 1, 2026, and the Lakers won 98-78 at Toyota Center in Houston. LeBron James led Los Angeles with 28 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Houston scored only 78 points, its lowest total of the season.

That result ended Houston’s year and sent the Lakers to a second-round series against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. The rest of this guide covers how both teams got there, who produced the best individual numbers, and what the next meeting might bring.

Houston Rockets vs Lakers Match Player Stats From the 2026 Playoff Series

The Lakers won the 2026 Western Conference first-round series 4-2, even though they opened it without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Los Angeles entered as the fourth seed and Houston as the fifth. Doncic and Reaves, the Lakers’ top two scorers during the regular season, both sat out the first two games. Doncic also missed Game 4 with a hamstring strain, and Reaves did not return until Game 5 after a nine-game absence.

Houston had its own injury trouble. Kevin Durant missed Game 1 with a right knee contusion, played in Game 2, and then sat out the rest of the series with an ankle sprain. That left Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr. and Reed Sheppard to carry the offense.

Luke Kennard set the tone in Game 1 with 27 points on 9-of-13 shooting, while Sheppard answered with 17 points and five three-pointers for Houston. Los Angeles won Game 2 by a score of 101-94, then took Game 3 in overtime behind 29 points and 13 rebounds from James. The Rockets responded with wins in Games 4 and 5 to force a sixth game. No NBA team has ever overcome a 3-0 series deficit, and Houston could not change that history.

Game	Date	Location	Final Score
Game 1	April 18, 2026	Crypto.com Arena	Lakers 107, Rockets 98
Game 2	April 21, 2026	Crypto.com Arena	Lakers 101, Rockets 94
Game 3	April 24, 2026	Toyota Center	Lakers 112, Rockets 108 (OT)
Game 4	April 26, 2026	Toyota Center	Rockets 115, Lakers 96
Game 5	April 29, 2026	Crypto.com Arena	Rockets 99, Lakers 93
Game 6	May 1, 2026	Toyota Center	Lakers 98, Rockets 78

Game 5 Player Stats: Rockets 99, Lakers 93

Game 5 on April 29 gave Houston its most balanced night of the series. Smith Jr. led the Rockets with 22 points and seven rebounds, and he made four of his nine three-point attempts. Tari Eason added 18 points, and Sengun filled the stat sheet with 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Player	Team	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	FG
Jabari Smith Jr.	Rockets	42	22	7	3	6-13
Tari Eason	Rockets	31	18	5	1	6-11
Amen Thompson	Rockets	46	15	7	4	4-14
Alperen Sengun	Rockets	43	14	9	8	5-9
LeBron James	Lakers	39	25	3	7	9-20
Austin Reaves	Lakers	34	22	4	6	4-16
Deandre Ayton	Lakers	38	18	17	0	9-14
Marcus Smart	Lakers	37	11	5	2	3-7

Three-point shooting decided the game. Houston made 14 of 40 attempts (35 percent), while Los Angeles made only 7 of 27 (26 percent). Reaves returned from his absence and scored 22 points, but he needed 16 shots to get there. Kennard, who averaged 25 points over the first two games, finished Game 5 with one point on 0-of-4 shooting. Ayton gave the Lakers 18 points and 17 rebounds in a losing effort.

Game 6 Player Stats: Lakers 98, Rockets 78

Game 6 turned into a blowout once Los Angeles built a 27-3 run. James scored 18 of his 28 points in the first half and finished with seven rebounds and eight assists in 37 minutes. Ayton pulled down 16 rebounds. The Lakers committed only 10 turnovers, and Houston scored just eight fast-break points. The Rockets had not scored fewer than 91 points in any game earlier that season, so the 78-point total stood out as their worst offensive night of the year.

Rockets vs Lakers Regular Season Player Stats From 2025-26

Houston won the Christmas Day meeting, and Los Angeles won both March games in Houston. Those three games offer the best look at how the stars matched up before the playoffs.

Christmas Day 2025: Rockets 119, Lakers 96

Amen Thompson scored 26 points with seven rebounds and five assists as the Rockets never trailed at Crypto.com Arena. Durant added 25 points, and six Rockets finished in double figures. Houston led 63-53 at halftime, when James had only eight points, and then opened the third quarter with an 18-5 run that stretched the lead to 23.

The Lakers lost more than the game. Reaves scored 12 points before leaving with a sore left calf, and Rui Hachimura went scoreless. The matchup also carried historical weight, because no two opposing players had ever entered a game with more combined career points than James and Durant.

March 16 and 18, 2026: Lakers Win Twice in Houston

On March 16, the Lakers won 100-92 behind 36 points from Doncic, who shot 14-of-27 and recorded his sixth straight game with at least 30 points. Smith Jr. led Houston with 22 points, Thompson scored 19, and Durant added 18. The turnover gap decided the game, with the Rockets committing 24 to the Lakers’ 12.

Two nights later, on March 18, Los Angeles won again, 124-116, and stretched its winning streak to seven games. Doncic scored 40 points with 10 assists and nine rebounds, and James added 30. Sengun returned from a back issue to post 27 points and 10 assists, and Thompson contributed 26 points and 11 rebounds. Durant struggled with two points in the first half and finished with 18 points and six rebounds.

Rockets vs Lakers Top Players and Season Averages

Luka Doncic and Kevin Durant carried the heaviest scoring loads in the 2025-26 meetings between these teams. The averages below come from mid-March 2026, just before the March 18 game.

Lakers (2025-26 averages)

• Luka Doncic: 32.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game, with the top scoring average in the NBA at that point
• Austin Reaves: 23.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists
• LeBron James: 21.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.9 assists
• Deandre Ayton: 12.5 points and 8.4 rebounds

Rockets (2025-26 averages)

• Kevin Durant: 25.8 points per game, tenth in the league
• Reed Sheppard: 13.4 points, 3.2 assists and 38.7 percent shooting from three-point range
• Tari Eason: 10.6 points and 6.3 rebounds

Two of those names no longer wear Lakers jerseys. James signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, and offseason roster reports list Ayton as traded to Washington. Any comparison of old box scores with the next game needs to account for that change.

Rockets vs Lakers Next Game Date, Time and Location

The Rockets and Lakers play next on Monday, November 30, 2026, at Toyota Center in Houston, with tipoff at 7:30 p.m. Eastern (6:30 p.m. Central and 4:30 p.m. Pacific). Two more meetings appear on the schedule I confirmed. The Lakers host Houston on Tuesday, December 29, 2026, at Crypto.com Arena, with a 10:30 p.m. Eastern start. The teams return to Toyota Center on Sunday, March 28, 2027, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.

Expect Houston Rockets vs Lakers match player stats from the November 30 game to look different from last spring’s box scores. The Lakers now build around Doncic and Reaves, and they added center Walker Kessler through a sign-and-trade. Schedules can change, so confirm the date and time on NBA.com before game day.

What to Watch in the Next Rockets vs Lakers Game

Four storylines should shape the next box score, and each one connects to a number from the games above.

Doncic’s usage. With James gone, Doncic carries even more of the Lakers’ offense. He scored 36 and 40 in the March games, so Houston must decide whether to send extra defenders at him or trust Thompson and Smith Jr. in single coverage.

Houston’s ball security. The Rockets lost the March 16 game partly because of 24 turnovers. Coach Ime Udoka’s team has started 2026-27 well, scoring at least 111 points in each of its first six games, but another round of giveaways could erase that offensive edge.

Durant’s health and role. Durant missed five of six playoff games, so his availability will shape Houston’s scoring options. When he played in the regular season, he produced 25, 18 and 18 points against Los Angeles.

Three-point volume. Game 5 showed how quickly a team can win or lose from long range. Houston attempted 40 threes in that win, and the Lakers shot just 26 percent. Both teams will probably take a similar approach again.

Through October 30, the Rockets stood at 5-1 and the Lakers at 4-2, so both teams arrive with early momentum. Houston finished 52-30 last season, and Los Angeles went 53-29 and finished fourth in the West.

How to Read Rockets vs Lakers Box Score Stats

A box score lists each player’s minutes, points, rebounds, assists, shooting splits, turnovers and plus-minus, and you can read the story of a game from those columns in under a minute. When you study Houston Rockets vs Lakers match player stats, start with minutes and points to see who carried the load. Next, check field goal and three-point percentages to find out whether a team won through efficiency or volume. Then compare turnovers, because the March 16 game showed how a 24-to-12 gap can outweigh a lot of strong individual scoring.

Plus-minus helps you judge impact beyond the scoring column. A player can score 15 points and still finish with a poor plus-minus if the team gave up too many points while he was on the floor. Rebounds and assists also tell you about style. Ayton’s 17 rebounds in Game 5 and Sengun’s eight assists in the same game both show how each team created possessions and extra chances.

For more context, compare this breakdown with our report on Lakers vs Milwaukee Bucks match player stats, which applies the same box score approach to another Lakers game. Readers who follow Houston sports can also check the Yankees vs Houston Astros match player stats page for the baseball side of the city. For franchise history, the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers pages on Wikipedia cover championships, retired numbers and past rosters.

Conclusion

Houston Rockets vs Lakers match player stats from 2026 show a Lakers team that won the playoff series 4-2 and a Rockets team that fought back from 3-0 before running out of answers in Game 6. The best individual numbers came from Doncic’s 40-point night, James’s playoff production, Thompson’s Christmas Day game, and Smith Jr.’s 22 points in Game 5. The next meeting on November 30, 2026, will look different because James and Ayton have left Los Angeles. Check the box score after that game and compare it with the lines in this guide.

FAQs

Who won the last Rockets vs Lakers game?

The Lakers won the most recent meeting, 98-78, in Game 6 of the 2026 first-round playoff series on May 1, 2026, at Toyota Center in Houston. LeBron James scored 28 points for Los Angeles, and the Lakers won the series 4-2 before advancing to face the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Who scored the most points in a Rockets vs Lakers game in 2026?

Among the games covered here, Luka Doncic scored the most with 40 points on March 18, 2026, adding 10 assists and nine rebounds in a 124-116 Lakers win at Toyota Center. LeBron James added 30 points that night, and Alperen Sengun led Houston with 27 points and 10 assists.

When do the Rockets play the Lakers next?

The Rockets host the Lakers next on Monday, November 30, 2026, at Toyota Center, with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m. Eastern. The teams then meet at Crypto.com Arena on December 29, 2026, and again in Houston on March 28, 2027. Check NBA.com before game day for updates.

Is LeBron James still on the Lakers?

No. LeBron James signed with the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2026 offseason, so he will not appear in the next Rockets vs Lakers box score. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves now lead the Lakers, and the team added center Walker Kessler through a sign-and-trade.

Where can I find a full Rockets vs Lakers box score?

NBA.com and ESPN publish full box scores for every game within minutes of the final buzzer. Each one lists minutes, points, rebounds, assists, shooting splits, turnovers, steals, blocks and plus-minus for every player on both rosters. Postgame recaps also add context such as injuries and key runs.