The Houston Rockets’ Offense Was Missing in Action Without Kevin Durant

The Houston Rockets offense disappears without Kevin Durant in Game 1 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Apr 18, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (center) watches from the bench against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first half during game one of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Throughout the week, most of the talk about the Houston Rockets-Los Angeles Lakers series had been about who the Lakers were missing. Both Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic were ruled out for most of the series, and many believed the Rockets were the favorites because of the Lakers' injuries.

The Rockets were expected to have the majority of their players outside of Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams. That was the case until Friday, when the injury report listed Kevin Durant as questionable with a knee contusion.

Reports suggest the injury occurred during Thursday's practice before the Rockets flew out to Los Angeles. It got even worse for the Rockets with the news that Kevin Durant would miss Game 1, and as of this writing, his status for Game 2 is still up in the air.

That meant other players would have to step up and do something the Rockets haven't had to do most of the season: produce offense without Durant for an entire game. The Rockets had played only four games without Durant this season, winning all four.

Would the Rockets Be Able to Generate Enough Offense Without Durant?

The biggest question going into the game was whether the Rockets could generate enough offense without their leading scorer to win Game 1. The offense started well enough: the Rockets scored 29 points in the first quarter, but unfortunately for the Rockets, they gave up 33 points on the other end.

The next two quarters were a different story. The Rockets' offense began to bog down, especially once Alperen Sengun went to the bench. The Rockets continue to miss from the outside and could only muster 19 points in the quarter.

The third quarter wasn't much better, especially after the Rockets put the Lakers in the penalty early, leading to a parade to the free-throw line for the Lakers. The third quarter ended with the Rockets scoring only 18 points. That is only 37 points combined in the second and third quarters.

Through three quarters, the Rockets didn't get much help from the bench as well. The Rockets scored only 8 points in the first three quarters, going 3-for-12 from the field. That meant the Rockets would have to find some type of offensive flow in the fourth quarter to mount a comeback.

The  fourth quarter did not start any better, as the 'Rockets' offensive woes continue. To make matters worse, the Lakers started to make shots, particularly Luke Kennard, who led everyone in scoring and helped push the Lakers' lead to 16 points four minutes into the fourth quarter.

The Rockets' offense never got it going after the first quarter and continued to sputter for the rest of the fourth quarter, which was the main reason for the Rockets' loss in Game 1.

The Rockets knew it would be difficult to come away with a win without their best player, Durant, but they will need someone to step up with or without him. They have to hope Durant is ready for Game 2 on Tuesday as they try to even the series at 1-1.