Kevin Durant is expected to miss Sunday’s Game 4 of the first-round playoff series between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers.
The All-Star forward has a bone bruise in his sprained left ankle, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports.
On X, Charania wrote:
Los Angeles leads the best-of-seven series, 3-0, and one more win would end Houston’s season. Sunday’s tipoff is at 8:30 p.m. Central from Toyota Center, and the game will be televised and streamed to a national audience via NBC and Peacock.
Durant led Houston in scoring during the 2025-26 regular season and only missed one game due to injury. However, the 37-year-old has now missed three of the four games — possibly the only four — in Houston’s postseason run.
The first absence was due to a separate injury, a right knee contusion that Durant suffered in practices leading up to the first round. The subsequent left ankle sprain occurred late in Game 2.
Should Houston win on Sunday, Game 5 would be on Wednesday night in Los Angeles, and it remains to be seen if Durant can be cleared by that time.
More: ‘Not over’: Down 0-3 to Lakers, can Rockets make NBA playoff history?
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Kevin Durant remains sidelined as Rockets face playoff elimination
