The NBA Playoffs are just getting started, and this week the NBA on NBC is keeping track of all the action with several Game 1 and Game 2 matches from the First Round across both conferences. 

How to Watch

Watch NBA on NBC on NBC and streaming on Peacock. 

The first week of action has already included a doubleheader Sunday night, and a tripleheader Monday night, and NBC Sports isn’t slowing down Tuesday. We’ve got another tripleheader to cap off the NBA on NBC‘s first week of 2026 NBA Playoffs action, and that tripleheader is capped off with a Western Conference showdown live from Los Angeles, where the Lakers will hope to start a winning streak against the always-tough Houston Rockets.

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How to watch Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Lakers Game 2 on Tuesday, April 21

Game 2 of the Western Conference First Round matchup between the Lakers and the Rockets is set to tip off Tuesday, April 21 at 10:30 p.m. ET, live on NBC and streaming simultaneously on Peacock. The game caps off a tripleheader which begins with Sixers vs. Celtics at 7 p.m. ET on Peacock, then continues with Trail Blazers vs. Spurs at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. 

NBC Sports’ Terry Gannon will have the play-by-play call for Lakers vs. Rockets, with analysis from Jamal Crawford and courtside reporting from Ashley ShahAhmadi. 

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What to expect from Rockets vs. Lakers Game 2

The start of this particular series has been a story of who can best take advantage of the other team’s injuries, and in Game 1 the Lakers won that battle with a scoring attack which more than made up for the absence of both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Doncic, the league’s top regular season scorer, has been out for most of April, and he and Reaves might not return until well after this series has concluded. Fortunately for the Lakers, with LeBron James leading the way with 13 assists, role players like Luke Kennard and DeAndre Ayton stepped up. The Rockets, without an injured Kevin Durant, could never quite keep up. 

But that may be about to change. Though he’s still listed as a Game Time Decision, the Rockets stand a good chance of getting Durant back in time for Tuesday night’s game. If that’s the case, and the Lakers are still down their top two scorers in Doncic and Reaves, Game 2 could be a very different story. The Rockets were the favorites heading into the series, and if they can show up in better shape for Game 2 and take that momentum out to Houston for Game 3, then by the end of this series Game 1 could look like nothing more than a false start. If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the last decade of his career, though, it’s that you should never underestimate what LeBron James can engineer on the court, even if he’s working shorthanded.