Rockets’ Kevin Durant Gets Official Injury Designation for Game 2 at Lakers

Houston’s offense struggled in Game 1 without KD.

Kevin Durant will play in Game 2 for the Rockets vs. the Lakers. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The cavalry has arrived for the Rockets, and not a moment too soon.

After missing Game 1 of Houston’s first-round playoff series against the Lakers, Kevin Durant is active, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. Durant suffered a knee injury during practice last week, an injury that did not heal well enough in time for the superstar forward to play on Saturday.

Without Durant, the Rockets offense sputtered in a 107–98 loss to Los Angeles. Alperen Şengün led Houston with 19 points but was just 6-of-19 from the field, a shooting percentage indicative of the team-wide troubles for the Rockets, who were just 35-of-93 from the field (including a 7-for-7 night for Tari Eason off the bench).

Houston missed Durant on defense as well, as it allowed the Lakers to knock down 61% of their shots from the field and 53% from three.

Durant averaged 26 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game this season, shooting .520/.413/.874 on the season on 36.4 minutes per game.

With the news, we will get our LeBron James vs. Durant playoff series, the first postseason matchup between the future Hall of Famers since the 2018 NBA Finals, in which Durant’s Warriors defeated James’s Cavaliers in a 4–0 sweep.

Tip-off in Los Angeles is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. ET.

Kevin Durant set to play his first playoff game with the Rockets

Kevin Durant missed Game 1 of Rockets-Lakers with a knee injury. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Durant was the key offseason addition for a Houston team with serious postseason expectations after going 52–30 and earning the No. 2 seed in the West. After losing their first-round series to the veteran Warriors, the Rockets aggressively added Durant to the very young core.

The team that Houston thought it put together never saw the court, however. Starting point guard Fred VanVleet suffered a torn ACL in September, immediately changing the team’s outlook. Without VanVleet, the roster hasn’t had a true point guard, leaving the lion’s share of backcourt minutes to Amen Thompson, Reed Sheppard and Josh Okogie.

The team also lost center Steven Adams, one of its other veterans, for the season midway through the year.

Durant’s impressive play and experience papered over many of the issues that plagued the Rockets, and as Saturday’s game showed, he shoulders a significant offensive burden for the team.

His postseason experience should prove valuable as well. Durant is a two-time NBA champion and NBA Finals MVP from his run with the Warriors, with 170 career playoff games under his belt. He’s averaged 29.3 points per game in the playoffs over the years, with 6.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.5 blocks in 40.5 minutes.

The nine players who saw time for the Rockets in their Game 1 loss to Los Angeles have 159 total playoff games under their belts, more than half of which (88) are claimed by backup veteran center Clint Capela.

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