{"id":717366,"date":"2026-04-25T00:57:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T00:57:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/717366\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T00:57:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T00:57:44","slug":"lakers-to-face-rockets-without-kevin-durant-in-game-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/717366\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers to Face Rockets Without Kevin Durant in Game 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cHouston\u2019s Kevin Durant<\/a> has been ruled out for Game 3 tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers due to a left ankle sprain, sources tell ESPN,\u201d Charania reported to X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Durant also missed the series opener with a knee contusion he suffered during practice in the week leading up to Game 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cString of bad luck for Durant \u2014 tendon bruise suffered in practice that sidelined him for Game 1, now an ankle sprain suffered in Game 2 holding him out following swelling and around-clock treatment \u2014 after being healthy all season,\u201d Charania added in a follow up post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rockets in Serious Trouble With Among Youngest Playoff Lineups in History Against Lakers in Game 3
\n\"Amen<\/p>\n

GettyAmen Thompson of the Houston Rockets.<\/p>\n

Durant\u2019s absence is going to leave the Rockets with a highly inexperienced NBA<\/a> group trying to salvage its postseason in what is essentially a must-win contest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Durant sidelined, the Rockets are expected to utilize the second-youngest starting lineup in NBA playoff history \u2014 their homegrown core of Reed Sheppard<\/a>, Amen Thompson<\/a>, Tari Eason, Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Sengun,\u201d Charania continued<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Rockets are also without point guard Fred VanVleet<\/a>, who has missed the entire season due to an ACL tear, and center Steven Adams<\/a> due to ankle surgery following an injury in mid-January.<\/p>\n

Durant is the team\u2019s highest-usage player and top scorer, while VanVleet was the offensive table-setter on 2024-25 before Durant\u2019s arrival, which was also the plan when the team paired the two up heading into 2025-26.<\/p>\n

Adams was also an important part of the offense given his abilities as an offensive rebounder, creating extra shots for a team that can struggle to score points.<\/p>\n

Austin Reaves Game-Time Decision for Lakers-Rockets Game 3
\n\"Austin<\/p>\n

GettyAustin Reaves of the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n

The Lakers are also playing at well below full strength, with Luka Doncic<\/a> out due to a hamstring strain and Austin Reaves<\/a> sidelined by an oblique strain.<\/p>\n

Doncic is likely to miss the entirety of Round 1, regardless of how long it lasts. However, Reaves went from a designation of \u201cout\u201d ahead of Game 2 in Los Angeles to \u201cquestionable\u201d ahead of Friday\u2019s contest in Houston.<\/p>\n

Reaves is currently a game-time decision for Game 3 and could return for Game 4 in Texas or Game 5 back in L.A. if he is unable to go today. It is unclear whether the news on Durant\u2019s absence might impact the Lakers\u2019 decision on Reaves in any way.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles has held the Rockets under 100 points in each of the first two outings in the No. 4 vs. No. 5 series in the Western Conference. LeBron James<\/a> has captained the offense at 41 years old in Doncic\u2019s and Reaves\u2019 stead, while Luke Kennard<\/a> and Marcus Smart<\/a> have stepped up into huge roles over the team\u2019s first two victories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cHouston\u2019s Kevin Durant has been ruled out for Game 3 tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers due to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":717367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3790],"tags":[7,4034,1698,300,4044,251,150,4033,4043,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-717366","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-lakers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-la","10":"tag-la-lakers","11":"tag-lakers","12":"tag-lalakers","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","15":"tag-losangeles","16":"tag-losangeleslakers","17":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116462633286220669","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}