LeBron's Low-Workload Masterclass

0:00The Houston Rockets and LA Lakers kicked off their first round playoff series with a ton of star power missing on both sides. Kevin Durant and Lucodon Cheech sat out Game 1 for the Lakers while Austin Reeves, Fred VanVleet and Stephen Adams were sidelined for the Rockets. It was a battle of dead players and young guns against the veteran squad leaning hard on one guy. The Rockets rolled with their deep bench of youth, figuring they'd wear down the Lakers. But LeBron James at 41 years old flipped the script without even needing big scoring numbers. He dished out 8 assists in the first quarter alone, a personal playoff record and got his role players cooking early. Fans and analysts lit up after LeBron's near triple double 19 points. 13 assists, 8 rebounds, plus steals in a block in 38 minutes. Charles Barkley called out the Rockets for not forcing James to chase his own shots, saying at his age that tires him out faster. The Lakers kept his minutes smart and one going away. Rockets coach Emay Udoca now faces tweaks to contain this version of James,

1:04who still elite even deep into his career. The Lakers came in planning low workload for their king and it paid off big. Game 2 looms and Houston's got to ramp up the pressure on the Braun or risk getting schooled again in this injury riddle series. Local news, powered by AI, this is California News Today. I'm Corey with The Story.