Kevin Durant #7 and Fred Vanvleet #5 of the Houston Rockets sit on the bench during the second quarter of a game against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game Four of the First Round of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs at Toyota Center on April 26, 2026 in Houston, Texas. Tim Warner, Getty Images/AFP
LOS ANGELES -- The Houston Rockets will be without injured star Kevin Durant as they try to fend off elimination in the NBA playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.
The Lakers lead the best-of-seven Western Conference series 3-1 after failing to polish off a first-round sweep in game four on Sunday.
Durant, 37, missed games three and four with a sprained ankle suffered in game two -- his first appearance in the series after he sat out the opener with a bruised knee.
The Rockets are trying to become the first NBA team in history to rally from 0-3 down to win a playoff series.
They led the entire second half in game four, but the Lakers are hoping they'll have offensive standout Austin Reaves back from injury for game five.
Reaves was listed as questionable for games three and four with an oblique muscle injury but after warming up before each game didn't play.
"I want to get back out there as fast as I can," Reaves said Tuesday in his first comments to reporters since he was injured on April 2. "But like I said, I feel good and trending in the right direction and can't wait to wake up tomorrow and attack another day."
Reaves was injured in the same game that saw Lakers star Luka Doncic, the NBA's leading scorer, limp out with a left hamstring injury that has sidelined him since.