Practice Report: Rockets Prepare for First Round Series Against Lakers

The Houston Rockets held their first practice before game one Saturday night. Here is all the latest from Wednesday's practice.

Mar 29, 2026; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Houston Rockets Head Coach Ime Udoka yells against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets have known for a few days who their first-round matchup would be and where it would take place. The Rockets finished as the number five seed in the Western Conference. They went 52-30 in the regular season.

A few blown fourth-quarter leads and back-to-back losses mean the Rockets will have to start the series on the road; however, the Lakers are dealing with injuries to two of their three best players in Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic. As of this writing, neither player is expected to be back for at least the first four games.

The series with the Lakers was the best-case scenario, as until Sunday evening, there was a chance the Rockets would be heading to Denver this weekend to face the Nuggets instead of the Lakers. The Nuggets are the hottest team going into the playoffs, winners of 12 games in a row.

With the injuries the Lakers are dealing with heading into the playoffs, the Rockets are the favorites, but, as most people know, that doesn't mean much, since the games still have to be played, and anything can happen in the playoffs.

The Rockets held their first practice on Wednesday afternoon, and after practice, Ime Udoka, Alperen Sengun, and Kevin Durant all spoke to the media.

Practice Recap:

Head Coach Ime Udoka spoke to the media first, discussing the upcoming matchup, the starting lineup, and what the Rockets expect from the Lakers to start this weekend.

After the Lakers' practice on Tuesday in Los Angeles, Marcus Smart spoke about how they expected the Rockets to try and come in and “punk them” and how they couldn't let that happen.

With both Reaves and Doncic out, the Rockets on SI asked Udoka if they planned to trap LeBron James more than usual to force other Lakers to beat them.

Udoka stated that it would probably not be more than any other time and that they would try the trap throughout the game. Udoka was also asked if he had decided on a starting lineup, and He said they are looking at the matchups but are not ready to name a starting lineup.

Kevin Durant also spoke to the media, discussing his matchup with LeBron, being back in the playoffs, and, in the clip below, how his team had to lean on each other in his first playoff matchup, considering the majority of the team did not have playoff experience.

With many of the Rockets making their first playoff appearance last season, Kevin Durant was asked who he leaned on when he first got into the playoffs at the beginning of his career.

“Nobody, we were a young team, we didn't have the opportunity to lean on guys that had been… pic.twitter.com/ueNXyKP3NO

— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) April 15, 2026

Durant also talked about how happy he was to be back in the playoffs after missing the postseason last year with the Phoenix Suns. Durant also talked about how, even though it is nice to go up against LeBron at the end of the day, it isn't about any one-on-one matchups; it's about the entire team.

The Rockets more than likely will have at least one more practice before heading to Los Angeles for Game 1 Saturday night on ABC.