Kevin Durant Ruled Out for Rockets-Lakers Game 6
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Kevin Durant will miss Friday’s Game 6 of the Houston Rockets’ first-round matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania on Thursday’s edition of “Get Up.”
The 37-year-old forward has sat out four of the series’ first five contests. He was unavailable in Game 1 because of a tendon bruise in his right knee, returned for Game 2, then missed Games 3 through 5 with a left ankle sprain and accompanying bone bruise.
Charania said the bone bruise carries a minimum recovery timeline of two weeks, and Durant is only slightly more than one week into that period. That timetable makes his availability for a possible Game 7 unlikely.
Despite losing their leading scorer, Houston erased an 0-3 deficit by winning Game 4 at Toyota Center and Game 5 at Crypto.com Arena, setting up another home game on Friday night.
Durant joins Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams on the Rockets’ injury list, leaving head coach Ime Udoka to lean on a starting unit featuring Tari Eason, Alperen Şengün, Jabari Smith Jr., Reed Sheppard, and Amen Thompson. That five-man group owns a plus-16.7 net rating in 73 playoff minutes; no other Rockets lineup has logged more than 24 minutes this postseason.
The Lakers are also short-handed, with their top scorer Luka Dončić sidelined by a hamstring strain that is not expected to heal before the series ends.
Source: Hoops Rumors
