With the season on the line, Houston Rockets star forward Kevin Durant will miss Game 4 against the visiting Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night with an ankle injury.
Durant was initially listed as questionable by the Rockets before being downgraded to out about five hours before gametime. Houston trails Los Angeles 3-0 in the best-of-seven series.
Durant has a bone bruise in his sprained ankle, ESPN reported. That injury would typically keep a player out for 2-3 weeks.
The 16-time All-Star has only appeared in one game in the series; he logged 41 minutes in Game 2, scoring 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 1 of 4 from 3-point range. Despite his presence, Houston still dropped the contest 101-94.
The Rockets have floundered this series, falling to a 0-3 deficit against an injury-depleted Lakers team. As a team, the Rockets are shooting an abysmal 28.7% from three.
On the Lakers’ end, Austin Reaves (left oblique strain) was downgraded from questionable to out less than an hour before tipoff.
Los Angeles has had neither of its top two scorers, Luka Doncic (left hamstring strain) and Reaves, during this series but may win it 4-0 without them. Reaves averaged 23.3 points, 5.5 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game during the regular season and shot 36% from 3-point range.
In the three playoff wins so far, LeBron James (25.3 ppg), Luke Kennard (21.3) and Marcus Smart (20.3) have carried the scoring load.
–Field Level Media
