LOS ANGELES — The Houston Rockets will be without star forward Kevin Durant for Game 1 against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday due to a knee injury, the team announced less than two hours before game time. Durant went through pre-game warmups at Crypto.com Arena but was ruled out with what the team called a right knee contusion.
Rockets coach Ime Udoka said before the game that Durant bumped a knee at practice on Wednesday and hopes his absence is just a “one-game thing.”
“He tried it out and didn’t feel good enough,” Udoka said.
Udoka said Durant underwent imaging and “nothing major” came up. Durant’s “limited movement” was more the cause of him being out rather than pain tolerance. The Lakers are also shorthanded as Luka Dončić (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) are both sidelined.
“It’s very tender, tough to bend certain ways,” Udoka said of Durant’s knee. “He hit it in a very awkward spot, I guess, more than anything. It could be a regular bumped knee and I think he could kind of play through that. But right above the knee, the patellar tendon area, up there, it’s just very tender and sore. Pain tolerance is one thing, but limited movement is more the cause.”
In his first season with Houston, Durant missed just four games total during the regular season. The Rockets are 4-0 without Durant in the lineup.
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Durant enters the playoffs averaging 26 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists since being traded from the Phoenix Suns last offseason. After losing in seven games to the Golden State Warriors in last year’s NBA Playoffs, Houston added Durant to give the team a go-to scoring punch.
Durant’s postseason debut with Houston will have to wait at least a few more days. The Rockets face the Lakers in Game 2 on Tuesday in Los Angeles.
While the Rockets will be without Durant, the Lakers are also dealing with their share of injuries. Dončić (grade 2 left hamstring strain) and Reaves (grade 2 left oblique strain) were both ruled out for Game 1 and don’t have a clear timeline to return.
