Kevin Durant was not on the Rockets’ bench as they melted down against the Lakers on Friday night, but Ime Udoka has revealed the reason why.
Durant, who also missed Game 1 of this first round series with a bruised right knee, sat out of the Rockets’ 112-108 overtime loss to LA with a sprained left ankle.
And as Udoka told reporters in his post-game press conference, the 37-year-old was receiving treatment for the issue during the game.
Udoka added on Saturday that Durant, who scored 23 points in his team’s Game 2 loss earlier this week, was running on an underwater treadmill as Game 3 went on.
The Rockets could have badly used Durant’s composure as they blew a six-point lead with 34.4 seconds left in Game 3, as both Jae’Sean Tate and Reed Sheppard committed costly turnovers that led to 3-pointers from Marcus Smart and LeBron James.
From there, LA outscored their hosts 11-7 in overtime as it took a commanding 3-0 series lead.
Durant is questionable for Houston’s do-or-die Game 4 on Sunday, with Udoka telling reporters on Saturday that the 16-time All-Star was dealing with soreness.
His injury woes this postseason come after an extremely durable regular season, as he appeared in 78 games for Houston — his most since he played the same amount for Golden State in 2018-19.
Udoka said earlier this week that Durant’s latest ailment occurred when he was attempting to run down Lakers guard Luke Kennard towards the end of Game 2.
Durant finished that game, an eventual 101-94 Lakers win, shooting seven-of-12 from the field and adding six boards and four assists to his 23 points.
He also committed nine turnovers.
The Rockets will hope to save their season when they host the Lakers on Sunday.
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