Rockets star Kevin Durant made his return to the court in Game 2 of the first round playoff series against the Lakers on Tuesday night.
Durant sat out of Game 1 on Saturday because of a right knee contusion he suffered during a practice on April 15 in Houston.
The Lakers won Game 1, 107-98, to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Durant was the Rockets’ leading scorer for the 2025-26 season, averaging 26 points in 78 games.
Among the four regular season games he missed, two was because of personal reasons, one was because of sprained left ankle and one was because of the team resting their main players in the final game of the season.
“He was great all year,” Udoka said pregame. “To your point, he only missed one game due to a tweaked ankle. It’s really one game that he honestly could have played through if it was a playoffs. So, durable, plays high minutes, competitive, wants to be out there and not come out of game and all those things. So obviously very frustrated, as we were, kind of fluky thing that happened. Two guys bump knees and to have that happen when you rest the guy the last game of the season and you’re going into the playoffs and preparation, frustration was from all sides, let alone him who’s a very competitive guy. So understand that, but being smart, looking at big picture, you want him to be out there 100% and not with limited movement, thinking about it.”
The Rockets started Durant alongside Amen Thompson, Josh Okogie, Jabari Smith and Alperen Sengun.
The Lakers had everyone who was available in Game 1 available for Game 2, starting the same lineup of Luke Kennard, Marcus Smart, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton.
Tuesday was the first time Durant and James played against each other in the playoffs since the 2018 NBA Finals.
