HOUSTON: Lakers rookie Kyle Kuzma set career highs with 38 points and seven 3-pointers against the NBA’s hottest team, and he wasn’t all that impressed with it.
“Why not? I scored 30s in summer league, so...,” he said before trailing off.
The stakes were a little higher Wednesday night. Kuzma helped the Lakers overcome James Harden’s 51 points and end the Rockets’ winning streak at 14 games with a 122-116 victory.
“It’s a better team but it’s the same mentality,” Kuzma said. “I’ve got the same mentality every time I step on the court. I try to play my hardest and just be locked in.”
Houston lost for the first time since Nov. 14, while the Lakers snapped a three-game skid. It was tied before Los Angeles scored 10 straight points — while Houston missed seven shots in a row — to go up 110-100 with about four minutes left.
Houston ended an almost four-minute scoring drought when Harden made a free throw, and he added three more after being fouled on a 3-point attempt a few seconds later to cut it to 110-104. But former Rocket Corey Brewer, who finished with 21 points, made a 3-pointer before Lonzo Ball hit two free throws to make it 115-104.
“The fact that we were able to kind of punch them early and you knew that run was coming and then find our composure again and hit some big plays and get some big stops, it was really good to see from our group,” Lakers coach Luke Walton said.
Harden powered Houston on a night when Chris Paul had just eight points before leaving early in the fourth quarter with a sore left leg.
The Rockets made seven free throws down the stretch but hit just four field goals in the last eight minutes — all in the final 1:05.
“We didn’t play defense at all today,” Houston’s Trevor Ariza said. “They got whatever they wanted and when that happens, you lose.”
Kuzma was unstoppable in the first half, making all nine of his shots, including six 3-pointers. He cooled a bit after the break and finished 12 of 17 overall and 7 of 10 from deep.
The Lakers led 100-92 after a 3-pointer by Josh Hart with about nine minutes to go, but the Rockets scored the next eight points. Ariza led the way in that span, scoring five points and blocking a shot by Brandon Ingram.
The Rockets opened the third with a 6-1 run for their first lead of the game, 65-64, with about 9 1/2 minutes left in the quarter.
Paul tied it on a 3-pointer later in the third, but Brewer made the last five points of the period to put the Lakers up 94-89 entering the fourth.
The Lakers led by 22 points during the first half, but Houston used a 12-2 run midway through the second to cut the deficit and a 7-2 spurt to end that quarter to get within 63-59 at halftime.
Lakers overcome Harden’s 51 to end Rockets’ streak
Lakers overcome Harden’s 51 to end Rockets’ streak
Iva Jovic hopes to channel Novak Djokovic on Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships debut
- American teen sensation looking to build on strong start to 2026 season
Things have been developing fast for American teenager Iva Jovic.
This time last year, she was ranked 167 in the world and had just lost in the opening round of a Challenger in Cancun.
Today, she is perched nicely at a career-high No. 20 in the world rankings, with a WTA title under her belt (in Guadalajara last year) and an Australian Open quarterfinal appearance last month.
At 18, the Californian became the youngest American woman to reach the last-eight stage at Melbourne Park since Venus Williams in 1998.
Having started 2026 with an impressive 11-3 win-loss record (semis in Auckland, final in Hobart, quarters at the Australian Open), Jovic withdrew from the WTA tournaments in Abu Dhabi and Doha to take some much-needed time off and is now in the UAE ready to make her debut at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
We caught up with Jovic on Saturday ahead of her Dubai opener against former world No. 3 Maria Sakkari.
What does it mean for you to be coming to these tournaments now that you probably were watching in the past coming to this part of the world?
I mean, it’s so special. Obviously, it’s one thing to kind of play your first WTA events and get the feel for it, but it’s a different one to be in the tournaments every week and have your ranking at a place where you can play the full calendar. So that was the goal for me, and it’s pretty incredible to have had it all as it is now and to just be here.
Obviously, I want to win every match I play. I hate to lose. But I also try to remember that just being here is an incredible accomplishment and privilege. But Dubai has been so fun. I went to the mall yesterday. I went to the top of the Burj Khalifa. So I’ve already got to do a couple of things.
The culture and everything is very cool here. It’s my first time in this part of the world, so it’s very cool to see all these new things. I feel like I’m learning a lot, so much more to come.
I know you had to pull out of the last couple of tournaments in Abu Dhabi and Doha. I’m just wondering, post-Australia, what came into that decision?
Yeah, I think I just needed a little bit more time. I think I played the most matches out of anyone in the Australian swing. It was a lot, and I’m really happy with how it went. It was a great experience, and I won a lot, right? So that’s what you want. But I also needed to rest and train a little bit to just take care of my body. And now I’m feeling good and ready to go to be here in Dubai.
With Australia, now that you’ve had a little bit of time and space since then, what was the biggest takeaways from that? And did any of it take you by surprise?
I like to think that it’s surprising but not surprising, because obviously having great results and maybe some wins weren’t expected, but I also know how hard I’ve worked, and that good things tend to come when you put in the right work. So, surprised, but also not that surprised. Again, I think it’s one thing to have a couple of those good results, but for me the most important thing is consistency. So I want to establish myself as a player who’s going deep every single week.
You’ve got Maria Sakkari in your first round. She just made the semis in Doha. How do you look ahead to that match?
That’s definitely going to be a tough one. So thank you, Alex (Eala) for giving me a tough match. She pulled my name out (during the draw), but that’s okay. I’ll forgive her. But no, that’ll be a difficult one. Maria is a fighter. I played her in doubles, first meeting in singles. I mean I’m so new on the tour, still. I haven’t played a lot of these women. But she’s a competitor. She’s been around for a while and obviously making semis last week. She’s in top form. But, you know, again, you love the battle and you want the tough matches. So hopefully I can pull through.
You got to play the world number one in a Grand Slam quarterfinal. Didn’t go your way, but I’m wondering what did you take from that experience?
Yeah, I think that obviously you want to play the best just to win, yes, but even if you don’t, to just see where you stand. I think I’ve done a good job so far of learning from every loss, and I think that’s all it is. You learn from it, and it’s just fine margins. The differences aren’t that big.
It’s just little details that you need to work on that I’ve already been working on the past couple weeks, so hopefully that can show.
I know Novak Djokovic has been sending you tips. You’ve been in contact. He’s won this tournament a bunch of times. Are you going to perhaps be like, give me some tips for this Dubai court?
Oh, my God. Well, I hope … I don’t know if I’m brave enough to do that. I’m still a little nervous when I talk to him. He’s definitely my idol, but yeah, I see him at every corner. I’m like, how many times did this guy win the tournament? I see him on every screen. But just try to be like Novak. I’m going to keep it that simple.
