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Kevin Durant was ruled out of Saturday\u2019s Game 1 vs. the Lakers after suffering a knee injury in practice.<\/p>\n
LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Kevin Durant missed the Houston Rockets\u2019 playoff-opening loss<\/a> against the Los Angeles Lakers with a knee injury, as both teams were left without their top scorer to begin the first-round series<\/a>.<\/p>\n Durant was ruled out for Game 1 on Saturday night by coach Ime Udoka, but the Rockets seem confident Durant\u2019s bruised right knee isn\u2019t a long-term problem.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully it\u2019s a one game thing, but he tried it out in practice and it didn\u2019t feel good enough,\u201d Udoka said.<\/p>\n Durant bumped knees with a teammate during practice on Wednesday, and he was added to the Rockets\u2019 injury report on Friday. The fifth-leading scorer in NBA history led the Rockets with 26.0 points per game this season, his first in Houston.<\/p>\n Rockets coach Ime Udoka says that Kevin Durant hit the knee \u201cin an awkward spot\u201d above the patella tendon during practice Wednesday. Udoka says imaging showed \u201cnothing major\u201d but that Durant\u2019s knee is \u201cvery tender and tough to bend in certain ways.\u201d Not sure how long he\u2019ll be out https:\/\/t.co\/51BVCdbtZF<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) April 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Udoka said Durant\u2019s knee is \u201cvery tender. \u2026 Tough to bend in certain ways. Hit it in a very awkward spot, I suppose. Pain tolerance is one part, but (also) limited movement.\u201d<\/p>\n Reed Sheppard took Durant\u2019s spot in the fifth-seeded Rockets\u2019 starting lineup for the opener against the fourth-seeded Lakers, who were playing without<\/a>\u00a0NBA scoring champion Luka Doncic and high-scoring guard Austin Reaves\u00a0indefinitely.<\/p>\n Doncic (hamstring) and Reaves (oblique) were injured April 2. Both of their injuries typically take several weeks to heal, but Doncic traveled to Europe this month for treatment in hopes of getting back on the court sooner.<\/p>\n Durant\u2019s absence injects some hope into the Lakers\u2019 intention to hang with the Rockets long enough for Doncic and Reaves to have an opportunity to return to the postseason.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going try to make this season as long as possible so that we can get those guys back at some point,\u201d Lakers coach JJ Redick said Friday. \u201cWe don\u2019t know what that is, but that\u2019s just our job. And their job is to do everything they can to be in a position to come back at some point. It may not work, but that\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to do.\u201d<\/p>\n It is the 37-year-old Durant\u2019s 14th trip to the NBA playoffs.<\/p>\n The series is his fourth career postseason meeting with 41-year-old LeBron James, who has faced off against Durant in three NBA Finals.<\/p>\n Rough timing for Durant to pop up on HOU injury report on the eve of Game 1 \u2014 he played 2840 minutes this season, the most since 2014. <\/p>\n For context, the Rockets are a +88 in +\/- in non-Durant minutes with > 2000 possessions and ~1200 minutes, solid sample size. https:\/\/t.co\/Vu1UyPB5KB<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) April 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n