Kevin Durant was ruled out of Game 1 against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Durant suffered a right knee contusion during Wednesday’s practice just days before the playoffs.
The two-time NBA champion bumped knees awkwardly in practice. As a result, the area near his patellar tendon became “very tender,” limiting his movement.
In his absence on Saturday night, the Rockets suffered a 107-98 loss. Almost all of the Rockets’ starting lineup ended with negative (+/-) efficiency. On the other hand, the Lakers started Luke Kennard, who scored a game-high 27 points on 9-13 shooting, including 5-5 from the 3-point line.
After the game, Rockets coach Ima Udoka shared an update on Durant’s injury and it doesn’t look good.
“It’s soreness,” Udoka said. “It’s very tender. It’s 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’ve been a regular bumped knee and he would’ve played through that. But it was right above the knee, the patellar tendon area.”
In another follow-up update, The Athletics’ writer Will Guillory relayed that Udoka suggested that with Durant, the problem is about movement rather than pain tolerance.
For the Rockets, the injury update on Durant doesn’t inspire hope with the series moving forward. With the Lakers set to receive the boost with Luka Doncic returning to the lineup, it’s only going to get tougher from here for Udoka & Co.
Lakers HC Made Mindset Clear Regarding Kevin Durant’s Potential Return
Before even setting foot on the court, the Lakers learned that Kevin Durant was not available for Saturday’s game. While most head coaches would breathe a sigh of relief hearing that, Lakers head coach JJ Redick said he was bothered a little. Redick made it known about the team’s mentality coming into the playoffs.
“I don’t think it affected our mentality. This is all we talked about for two months, just our playoff mentality,” Redick told reporters. “You can’t worry about who’s in or out of the lineup. It’s our game plan. It’s our standards. It’s how we play. We’ve built towards that, and I thought our guys responded well, and met the moment. That’s the biggest thing. You’ve got to meet the moment in every game. They were able to do that.
“There’s a lot that you have to do with Kevin, and you just kind of scrap that and move on to all the other stuff we worked on.”
The Rockets would like it if Durant could return as soon as possible, but at the moment, it doesn’t appear that he will be available in Game 2 of the series.
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