The Rockets are set to face the Lakers tonight at the Crypto.com Arena for Game 2 of their first-round series in the 2026 NBA playoffs. Ahead of Game 2, the Rockets’ head coach, Ime Udoka, spoke to the media and addressed Kevin Durant’s availability for this matchup.
“He’s testing it out right now to see how it feels on his knee,” said Udoka at the pregame press conference before confirming that if Durant were to play tonight, he would not be on a minutes restriction.
The biggest question for Houston heading into tonight’s fixture was the availability of Kevin Durant, who missed Game 1 due to a deep bruise in his right patellar tendon. Durant hit the court for warmups before the game, a positive sight for the sore eyes of the Rockets’ fans.
Kevin Durant is on the court going thru his pregame warmup. Appears to be moving well. Ime Udoka will give an update on his status in about 10 minutes. pic.twitter.com/Fa14gKPbkN
— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) April 22, 2026
Subsequently, the Rockets upgraded the 37-year-old’s playing status to ‘Active’, indicating that he will be playing tonight after missing Game 1. This is a promising update for the Rockets’ fans who had to hear so much noise about the Rockets’ hopes being over without Kevin Durant.
Houston’s starting lineup saw one change as Reed Sheppard moved back to the bench for Durant’s return. Here’s the starting lineup for the Rockets tonight.
PG: Amen Thompson
SG: Josh Okogie
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: Jabari Smith Jr.
C: Alperen Sengun
The Rockets’ veteran has averaged 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in the 78 games he played in the regular season while shooting 52.0% from the field and 41.3% from beyond the arc.
One could feel Durant’s absence in Game 1. Without him, the Rockets’ offensive performance collapsed against the Lakers, who were also depleted due to the indefinite injuries of Austin Reaves (oblique) and Luka Doncic (hamstring).
On Saturday, the Rockets shot 37.6% from the field and were only able to score 98 points. Despite finishing with 27 more field goal attempts than Los Angeles, mostly as a result of offensive rebounds and turnovers, they were unable to frighten the Lakers in the fourth quarter. They will hope not to repeat the same tonight with Durant on the floor.
Durant participated in the team practice as well, but did not speak to any reporters afterwards. The fifth leading scorer in the league’s history books will suit up for the Rockets tonight as he faces LeBron James for the fourth time in the postseason.
All eyes will now be on that matchup as the Lakers will look to continue their momentum from Game 1 with LeBron James at the front.
