The Houston Rockets have had a meteoric rise over the past few seasons. Going from a 41-win 11th seed in 2024 to a second seed in 2025, the Rockets evolved once more last summer.
Parting with key pieces on their roster, including now-Phoenix Suns guards Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks, the Rockets orchestrated a massive seven-team deal in July 2025. This helped the team acquire All-Star forward Kevin Durant and veteran center Clint Capela, firmly securing the Rockets as contenders in a competitive Western Conference.
Kevin Durant’s Knee Injury Changes Houston’s Game-Plan
So far, however, the Rockets have had a slightly tumultuous season. Houston has suffered from major injuries to key players, the release of the so-called “KD Files,” and offensive inconsistency from players outside of Durant. This culminated in a 2025-26 season that saw them finish with the same record as last year, only this time entering the playoffs as the fifth seed.
Now, a knee contusion has sidelined Durant in Houston’s first-round matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers. Missing Game 1, the star is questionable going forward. So, how can the Rockets overcome this?
Injury Riddled
Roughly an hour before tipoff on Saturday, Rockets head coach Ime Udoka announced that Durant had suffered a right knee contusion.
Durant reportedly bumped knees with a teammate during practice on Wednesday. Udoka explained that Durant’s knee was hit “in an awkward spot” above the patella tendon.
According to Udoka, imaging of the area had come back clear. Additionally, despite reassurances that Durant’s injury was “nothing serious,” Udoka gave no guarantees about his availability for Game 2.
“It’s very tender, tough to bend certain ways. He hit it in a very awkward spot, I guess, more than anything. If he had a regular bumped knee, I think he could kind of play through that. But right above the knee, the patellar tendon area, up there, it’s just very tender and sore.
“Hopefully, it’s a one-game thing, but he tried it out just [a] short [time] ago and didn’t feel good enough,” Udoka told ESPN.
Offensive Impact
In his first season with the Rockets, Durant averaged 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.8 assists. Playing 36.4 minutes a game, Durant was the answer to an offensively depleted Houston team.
Injuries to Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams have also significantly affected the Rockets. VanVleet was, to a great extent, responsible for Houston clinching the second seed in 2025. Without a solid facilitator, Amen Thompson has been the team’s primary point guard, a position that he is unfamiliar with. This resulted in the Rockets having significantly more turnovers this season than in years past.
Despite being an All-Star and boosting his scoring output, Alperen Sengun‘s offensive contributions have been inconsistent from all over the floor. Statistically, the Turkish big man is having one of the best years of his career. He has attempted and made more three-pointers, slightly bumped up his field goal percentage, and even has a stellar Player Efficiency Rating of 21.4.
On the other hand, his plus/minus has plummeted, going from +410 in 2024-25 to +205 in 2025-26. Compared to other Rockets starters, Sengun is the only one who has regressed in that particular statistic.
Offensive Solution?
With Durant questionable for Game 2, the Rockets’ offense will have to adjust to make up for his absence.
As a whole, despite being efficient, Houston ranks near the bottom of the league in terms of three-point attempts. Durant and Reed Sheppard are two of the Rockets’ best shooters. Most of the other players on this Houston team are best utilized by focusing their efforts on scoring at the rim.
In a postgame interview Saturday, Thompson emphasized pushing the pace and playing faster to punish the Lakers for any turnovers.
“We thought we were getting into stuff slow. I thought we could have been faster. Yeah, I wanted us to be faster. Just get it out off makes, off misses, get it out. When me and Reed are in there, playing fast is to our advantage. So just doing that I feel like it’s going to change a lot.”
With players such as LeBron James and Luka Doncic being excellent at reading passing lanes, the Lakers force their opponents to the seventh-lowest transition score frequency. With Doncic being a non-factor as of now, Houston will have to tighten up their passing reads and focus on pushing the ball.
Sheppard went 6-of-20 from the field in 36 minutes. His shooting will have to improve in Game 2 for the Rockets to win.
Defense is another key that Houston will have to focus on. This season, the Rockets ended up sixth in defensive rating. They gave up 29 assists to the Lakers in Game 1, with James alone having 13. Additionally, Luke Kennard got his 27 points on Thompson, one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA.
As Paul “Bear” Bryant’s saying goes, “Defense wins championships.” And good defense will be the best offense for the Rockets if they want to take this series.
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