JJ Redick Reveals Message for Luke Kennard Before Lakers-Rockets Game 2

Veteran NBA sharpshooter Luke Kennard played a massive role in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ Game 1 victory over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night.

Kennard recorded a playoff career-high 27 points, leading all scorers in the postseason matchup. The 29-year-old guard shot 9/13 from the field and a stunning 5/5 from behind the 3-point arc.

Kennard joined the Lakers in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks before the 2025-26 NBA trade deadline. For the third time in his nine-year NBA career, he led the league in 3-point shooting percentage (47.8%).

Lakers head coach JJ Redick - an all-time great NBA sharpshooter in his own right - wants Kennard to continue to be aggressive as Los Angeles moves forward through its playoff run.

"One of the things messaging wise was, ‘You shooting six or seven 3s a game at 38% for the series is better than you shooting three a game at 45%. We need you to shoot,'” Redick said after practice on Monday.

“It’s unlikely he’ll go 5/5 every game, but I loved his level of aggression,” Redick continued.

Kennard discussed this same topic after Saturday’s 107-98 victory.

“It’s everybody continuing to build confidence in me to be aggressive and look for my shot whenever I can,” Kennard said, via Heavy. “So any daylight that I see - and they obviously got some big athletic defenders, guys that have been on me from the start of the game trying to be physical. So when I see space and the rim, I’m going to look to get it up.”

Kennard was asked to step up with both Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) out indefinitely. 41-year-old NBA superstar LeBron James also carried his weight in Game 1, recording 19 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds through 38 minutes of action.

The Lakers will tipoff against the Rockets in a Game 2 matchup at 10:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

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This story was originally published April 20, 2026 at 4:43 PM.