Ime Udoka Will Have to be Better in Game 2 for Rockets to Win vs. Lakers

That can't happen again.

Apr 18, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka at press conference during game one of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Heading into Game 1 between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Quarterfinals, one of the biggest matchups figured to be between Rockets coach Ime Udoka and Lakers coach JJ Redick.

Both coaches are former players and have very different coaching styles and/or approaches. Redick is a tactician, who has proven to be both willing and capable of making in-game adjustments and/or tweaks on the fly.

Redick even proved that against the Rockets during Houston's home and home back-to-back stretch against the Lakers. The Lakers made the decision to blitz and trap Kevin Durant at the halfway point of the game, to limit his touches and/or shots. Udoka and the Rockets continued to operate as usual, without a counter to the double teams, which led to turnovers by Durant and a Rockets loss. 

In the opening game of the series, both coaches were forced to fare without their superstars. For the Lakers, they were without Luka Doncic (and Austin Reaves), while the Rockets were without Durant (in addition to Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams).

Houston's offense struggled mightily, shooting 37.6 percent from the field on 93 shots. Unsurprisingly, the Rockets lost 107-98 and the game wasn't even all that close.

After the game, former Rockets All-Star and All-NBA forward Charles Barkley took to ESPN's national airwaves to call out Rockets coach Ime Udoka’s lack of offensive innovation and execution. 

"That's the way they play offense. They just play one on one basketball. It's better when it's Kevin Durant and Sengun but they don't run plays. 

It's like everyone goes one on one. Whoever gets it shoots it. Throughout the entire regular season we said they don't have a point guard. But they had Kevin Durant to cover all their flaws.

Everybody on the offense has a green light. On a team, everybody on the team doesn't have no damn green light. That was awful to watch offensively."

Udoka is certainly not an offensive stalwart. That's known.

In fact, he thrives on the defensive end. Although the Lakers made 60.6 percent of their shots and 52.6 percent of their long-range attempts.

Udoka’s offensive deficiencies aren't going to self-correct. Especially not during this series. 

Most NBA coaches are weaker on one area of the floor. Mike D'Antoni, for example, is the winningest coach in Rockets history and he was also fairly weaker on the defensive end of the floor.

However, he was able to identify an assistant coach in Jeff Bzdelik, who was capable of getting the Rockets in better shape defensively. Udoka will eventually need to identify an offensive-leaning assistant to do the same for this iteration of the ball club on offense (and may be wise to call D'Antoni himself).