LOS ANGELES — The Houston Rockets were without star forward Kevin Durant for their 107-98 loss in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday due to a knee injury. Durant, who popped up as questionable on the injury report during the week, 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 mentioned before the game that Durant bumped his knee at practice on Wednesday. He hopes Durant’s absence is just a “one-game thing.”
“He tried it out and didn’t feel good enough,” Udoka mentioned.
Udoka mentioned 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 were also shorthanded with Luka Dončić (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) sidelined.
“It’s very tender, tough to bend certain ways,” Udoka mentioned 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 entered 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.
