Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant was ruled out for the playoff series opener against the host Los Angeles Lakers because of a right knee injury, coach Ime Udoka said before the game on Saturday.

“He bumped a knee in practice on Wednesday,” Udoka said. “Hopefully, it’s a one-game thing, but he tried it out just (a) short (time) ago and didn’t feel good enough.”

At age 37 and in his 19th season, Durant averaged a team-high 26.0 points as well as 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists. Perhaps most impressive of all was his 78 regular-season games played, his most since 2018-19.

The teams play Game 2 of the Western Conference first-round, best-of-seven series in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The Rockets started forward Jabari Smith Jr., center Alperen Sengun and guards Josh Okogie, Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard in Game 1. When Durant last started a game on April 10 against Minnesota, Sheppard came in off the bench.

Udoka said that no structural damage was revealed in medical imaging on Durant’s knee after he was hurt.

“It’s very tender, tough to bend certain ways,” Udoka said of Durant’s knee. “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.

“Pain tolerance is one thing, but actually limited movement is more the cause (of Durant being out).”

Durant is a 16-time All-Star, the 2013-14 NBA Most Valuable Player, the 2007-08 Rookie of the Year and a six-time first-team All-NBA selection with two league championships (Golden State in 2017 and 2018) to his credit.

He has career averages of 27.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.0 steals, 1.1 blocks and 36.7 minutes in 1,201 regular-season games (1,198 starts).

–Field Level Media

Cristian Espinoza and Abdul Shakur Mohammed each scored second-half goals – both assisted by Hany Mukhtar – for Nashville SC, who defeated host Atlanta United 2-0 on Saturday night.

Despite missing leading scorer Sam Surridge (seven goals) to a hamstring injury for the second straight match, Nashville (6-1-1, 19 points) extended its win streak to three matches across all competitions while maintaining its lead atop the Eastern Conference standings. It also improved to 3-1-1 on the road in MLS play.

Atlanta (1-6-1, 4 points) saw its winless streak in MLS play reach four matches (0-3-1).

Nashville pulled ahead in the 61st minute after Atlanta’s Emmanuel Latte Lath lost possession in the attacking half.

After the ball reached Mukhtar on the resulting counterattack, his pass near the scoring area found the foot of Espinoza, whose shot sailed past Lucas Hoyos and just inside the left post to make it 1-0. It was Espinoza’s third goal of the season.

Nashville grabbed an insurance goal in the first minute of second-half stoppage time when Mohammed made it 2-0, his first goal in MLS.

Atlanta and Nashville played an even first half, though Nashville had a couple of opportunities to pull ahead late in the period.

In the 39th minute, Hoyos turned aside a header from Daniel Lovitz. Then, in the 41st minute, Mukhtar found himself one-on-one with Hoyos, but was denied by the goalkeeper for the go-ahead goal.

Ultimately, Nashville SC pulled away in the second half while keeping its fourth clean sheet in MLS play. Brian Schwake was credited with three saves in the win. Hoyos finished with six saves.

Atlanta United fell to 1-3-1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium with the loss. They also entered Saturday’s match without Miguel Almiron, who was dealing with a knee injury sustained during the team’s win over Chattanooga FC in Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup Round of 32.

–Field Level Media

Sean Johnson made four saves to keep his third clean sheet and D.C. United held on for a 0-0 draw at the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night.

Rookie defender Nikola Markovic blocked three shots and was a consistent disruptor of Union attacks in his first start for D.C. (2-4-2, 8 points), which snapped a two-match league losing run but is now winless in its last four in MLS and last five overall.

The Black-and-Red, the last-place finishers in MLS in 2025, remain above a Philadelphia (1-6-1, 4 points) side that won the 2025 Supporters’ Shield in the 2026 Eastern Conference standings.

Andre Blake kept his first clean sheet without having to make a single save for the Union, who outshot D.C. 17-6 overall.

Philadelphia also led D.C. 13-1 in corner kicks, and failed to score for a second consecutive match against D.C. following a 1-0 away loss to open the season.

Former Philadelphia Union striker Tai Baribo started for D.C. in his first return to his former club after he was questionable with a thigh injury coming into the match.

But he had scant opportunities as the home side dominated the task of creating chances, particularly before halftime.

Jesus Bueno’s long-range effort from outside the box struck the near left post in the 12th minute.

In the 40th, Bueno connected well on a tricky volley inside the box, but Markovic sprawled to block it before it could test Johnson.

Then in the 42nd, Johnson reacted excellently to deny Bruno Damiani’s low, first-time effort off Milan Iloski’s feed from the right.

The hosts still enjoyed most of the ball after the break but were less threatening with it.

Iloski’s 76th-minute effort from long range nearly found the net, but only because Johnson mis-timed his dive and played it into a more difficult save.

Jovan Lukic and Damiani each missed the target in the 82nd minute. But otherwise, Johnson was comfortable during the dying stages.

–Field Level Media