Durant out Game 1

Kevin Durant will not play in Game 1 of Houston’s first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers after hurting his right knee in practice this week. (nba.com) Rockets coach Ime Udoka said Durant bumped knees with a teammate on Wednesday, then tried to test it before Saturday’s opener and “didn’t feel good enough.” Udoka said imaging showed no structural damage. (espn.com) The injury was listed as a right knee contusion, which is a bruise, but Udoka said the bigger issue was movement, not just pain. He said the area above the patellar tendon was “very tender” and hard for Durant to bend. (nba.com) Houston replaced Durant in the starting lineup with Reed Sheppard for the opener in Los Angeles. The Rockets entered the series as the No. 5 seed after winning nine of their last 10 regular-season games. (espn.com) Durant’s absence changes a series that already opened with missing star power on both sides. The Lakers were also without Luka Doncic, out with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, and Austin Reaves, out with a Grade 2 left oblique strain after both were injured on April 2. (foxsports.com) That left LeBron James as the biggest healthy headliner in a matchup that looked very different a week ago. It is Durant’s 14th NBA playoff trip and his fourth postseason meeting with James. (foxsports.com) The timing stands out because Durant had been unusually available this season. He played 78 regular-season games, his most since 2018-19, and averaged a team-high 26.0 points with 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists in his first season with Houston. (espn.com) Udoka said he hoped it would be “a one-game thing,” with Game 2 set for Tuesday, April 21, in Los Angeles. For now, the series starts without Durant, and Houston has to cover his scoring from somewhere else. (espn.com)