The Houston Rockets have beaten the Los Angeles Lakers twice in a row without Kevin Durant on the floor, and they’re going to need to do it again to extend the series to Game 7. Durant will be out again and miss Game 6 on Friday, according to ESPN.
Durant played 41 minutes in Game 2, a 101-94 loss. He missed Game 1 because of a bruised tendon in his right knee, and he suffered a bone bruise in his left ankle late in Game 2. This latest injury typically comes with a return-to-play timetable of at least two weeks. Game 7, if necessary, will take place on Sunday, 12 days after Durant got hurt, so a return in this series would be a rush.
The Rockets blew Game 3 with several late-game errors that coach Ime Udoka described as “horrendous,” putting themselves in a 3-0 hole. After a 99-93 win in Los Angeles on Wednesday, though, they have new life.
Houston clearly misses Durant on offense. In 204 minutes without him during the series, the team has scored 108.1 points per 100 possessions, a worse mark than anyone other than the Brooklyn Nets during the regular season. In Games 3 through 5, though, the Lakers scored 104.2 per 100. If that continues, the Rockets can continue to win ugly. Still, as they’re trying to become the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3-0 deficit and win a series, they’d surely prefer to have the all-time great in the lineup.
Durant turns 38 in September, but it’s not as if he’s been banged up all season. He missed two games due to personal reasons in November and one game due to a sprained ankle in February, and Houston rested him in its regular-season finale. Other than that, he was available every night before the playoffs began — Durant played in 78 games, his highest total since 2018-19, and logged 2,840 minutes, his highest total since 2013-14, the year he won MVP. This is just extremely unfortunate timing.
