April 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\nUdoka said Saturday that Durant suffered the injury during a practice Wednesday when he bumped knees with a teammate. Durant had the knee looked at by team physicians, and it was determined the injury won\u2019t keep him out long term.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s soreness. It\u2019s very tender,\u201d Udoka said before Game 1. \u201cIt\u2019s tough to bend in certain ways. Not a lot of swelling. He hit it in a very awkward spot, I guess, more than anything. It could\u2019ve been a regular bumped knee, and he would\u2019ve played through that. But it was right above the knee, the patellar tendon area.\u201d<\/p>\n
Udoka said the team is uncertain about Durant\u2019s status going into Tuesday\u2019s Game 2, but the hope is that he will be back. \u201cPain tolerance is one thing, but actually limited movement is more the cause,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
With Durant out of the lineup, the Rockets will start Okogie, Reed Sheppard, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen \u015eeng\u00fcn in Game 1. This will be just the second time Durant has missed a game due to injury this season.<\/p>\n
The 37-year-old missed two games in late November due to personal reasons, and he sat out the regular-season finale for rest.<\/p>\n
Durant\u2019s absence puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the Lakers to pull out Game 1 of the series at home, as they come into the playoffs with some major injuries of their own.<\/p>\n
Lakers stars Luka Don\u010di\u0107 (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) are out indefinitely after suffering relatively serious injuries just a few weeks before the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Los Angeles is hopeful that Don\u010di\u0107 or Reaves, if not both, will be back before the end of the first round, but it\u2019s still unclear how advanced either is in their respective recoveries.<\/p>\n
For Houston, the pressure goes up for \u015eeng\u00fcn and Thompson to be the driving force of the offense. \u015eeng\u00fcn, in particular, will play a pivotal role as the primary hub on offense in half-court situations and as the go-to guy if Houston has clutch possessions late in the game.<\/p>\n