HOUSTON (AP) — Kevin Durant missed Houston's win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 4 of a Western Conference first-round playoff series Sunday night with an ankle injury, but coach Ime Udoka said Durant could return now that the series has been extended.
Udoka said Durant has a bone bruise on his ankle that is painful and he has limited his mobility, but didn't rule out his return this season.
“Yeah, a possibility, for sure,” Udoka said. “I didn’t
know how bad it was initially and then we got that prognosis. But he’s doing what he can to get swelling out and mobility back. And just like the knee, we weren’t sure when he was going to come back, but he snapped back pretty quickly to be available for Game 2. So it is a true game-to-game, day-to-day thing.”
Game 5 is Wednesday night in Los Angeles.
Durant missed Game 3 on Friday night with the ankle injury, when the Rockets blew a six-point lead with less than 30 seconds to go in regulation of an eventual 112-108 overtime loss to fall to 0-3 in the series.
Sunday's 115-96 win was the third game of the series that Durant has missed after he sat out the opener with a bruised right knee. He returned for Game 2, scoring 23 points in 41 minutes of the 101-94 loss, during which he injured his ankle late in the game.
His injury problems this postseason came after the 37-year-old ranked second in the league in the regular season by playing 2,840 minutes.
Durant, who is in his first season in Houston after an offseason trade from Phoenix, is the fifth-leading scorer in NBA history.
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