LOS ANGELES — Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant, who missed Saturday’s series opener against the Lakers, was in the lineup for Game 2 of their first-round playoff series on Tuesday night after testing out his right knee pregame.
Durant, the Rockets’ leading scorer at 26 points per game, was not on a minutes restriction and was deemed fully available, Rockets coach Ime Udoka said before the game. Guard Reed Sheppard, who had 17 points and eight assists for the Rockets in the Lakers’ 107-98 Game 1 victory, moved to the bench while defensive-focused guard Josh Okogie remained in the starting lineup.
Durant bumped knees with a teammate during live practice drills last Wednesday in Houston, leaving him nursing a contusion directly above his patella. Durant, who ranks fifth on the NBA’s career scoring list, adds offensive firepower to a Houston squad that was already on its back foot after dropping Game 1 to the short-handed Lakers (playing without Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic, who remain “out indefinitely,” with Grade 2 strains)
Lakers star LeBron James and Durant share a storied postseason history – having faced one another in the NBA Finals three times (2012, 2017 and 2018) – but they had not faced off under in the postseason since. The Lakers held Durant, 37, to 18 points in both of their victories over the Rockets in mid-March in Houston. Durant scored more than 18 points in every game since.
“To have that happen when you rest a guy the last game of the season and you’re going into the playoff preparation, the frustration was from all sides, let alone him, who is a very competitive guy,” Udoka said Tuesday, before Durant was deemed available. “So understand that, but being smart, looking at (the) big picture, want to him to be out there 100%, not under limited movement.”
When asked how the Lakers’ Game 2 game plan could change if Durant played, Lakers coach JJ Redick pointed to Durant’s career exploits – one of the greatest scorers in league history.
“He’s done it at a high level for so long,” Redick said. “He’s one of the greatest players ever. He’s one of the most gifted scorers that we’ve ever seen, and really just a fantastic basketball player. And you know, if he shoots, you feel like it’s going in every time. We’ve got to, we’ve got to do a good job with all our coverages.”
REAVES, DONCIC UPDATES
One of the Lakers’ injured stars could be closer to a return from injury than anticipated.
Redick said Tuesday that Reaves started his “return to play” progression from his Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury, following a report from ESPN’s Shams Charania earlier in the day which stated that Reaves had begun one-on-one on-court work.
“Austin has started a return to play,” Redick said. “But we don’t, we don’t have any timeline update for him.”
Redick added that Doncic could also return to on-court action soon, but once again did not stipulate a timeline for the return of either player.
“It’s an upper-body injury versus a lower-body injury, so it’s two kind of different things,” Redick said Tuesday, referring to why Reaves was farther along with rehabilitation progress compared to Doncic.
The fourth week of the four-to-six-week timeline often attached to Reaves’ oblique injury would match up with a potential Game 6 of this series, or if Reaves were to be feeling better just before the fourth week hits, Game 5 on April 29 in Los Angeles.
Both Doncic and Reaves suffered their respective injuries on April 2 in a loss to Oklahoma City.