Houston Rockets list Kevin Durant as questionable for Lakers playoff opener
Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant is listed as questionable for Saturday’s playoff series opener against the Los Angeles Lakers after sustaining a right knee contusion in practice.
The 37-year-old suffered the injury during a training session earlier this week, though team sources remain optimistic the issue will not severely impact his postseason availability.
Durant enjoyed a highly productive debut campaign in Texas, averaging 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists across the regular season.
Crucially, the veteran played 78 games this year, marking his most durable run of fitness since the 2018-19 campaign.
Lakers face severe injury crisis
While Houston sweat on the availability of their primary scorer, the fourth-seeded Lakers are dealing with a significant injury list of their own.
Los Angeles will begin the first-round series without star guard Luka Doncic and key rotation piece Austin Reaves.
Both players suffered serious injuries during a defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder on 2 April.
Doncic is sidelined with a hamstring problem, while Reaves is recovering from a troublesome oblique issue.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick delivered a bleak assessment of their recovery timeline to the media on Tuesday.
They are out indefinitely, with no update expected this week.
