The Houston Rockets saw their 2025-26 season end just as the previous season did, and that is what a first-round loss. This time around, it was the Los Angeles Lakers, a team dealing with its own injury issues. The Rockets were heavy favorites coming into the series, but that was with Kevin Durant. The Lakers came into the series without both Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic. Unfortunately for the Rockets, they would end up playing five of the six games without Durant, as he first suffered a knee contusion in the last practice before Game 1. Durant was able to come back for Game 2, but it wasn’t meant to be as Durant suffered another injury, this time an ankle injury that would keep him out the rest of the series. The injury to Durant was the last nail in the Rockets' coffin, as the Lakers ended the Rockets' season on their own home court in a 98-78 victory that wasn't even that close. The Rockets had dealt with injuries even before the season started.…