The Rockets will once again be without their leading scorer Kevin Durant in a playoff game against the Lakers.
Durant has been ruled out for Friday’s Game 6 of the best-of-seven first round series in Houston because of a left ankle sprain/bone bruise, ESPN first reported on Thursday morning.
He suffered the ankle injury during the Lakers’ Game 2 win on April 21 in Los Angeles, missing Games 3-5 because of the ailment.
Durant also missed Game 1 of the best-of-seven series because of a right knee contusion.
He made his return in Game 2, but the Lakers beat the Rockets, 101-94, with Durant suffering the ankle injury late in the game.
With his absence in Game 6, Durant will miss five of the Rockets’ six playoff games after playing in 78 regular season games, which is the most games he’s played since 2018-19 while he was with the Warriors.
The Rockets have gone 2-2 in games Durant hasn’t played, including back-to-back wins in Games 4-5.
Durant’s 26 points scoring average led the Rockets for 2025-26.
Game 6 of Lakers-Rockets will tip off at 6:30 p.m. PT on Friday at Toyota Center.
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[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
