The Houston Rockets ruled Kevin Durant out for tonight's Game 5 against the Los Angeles Lakers — left ankle bone bruise, with knee complications [1]. Series sits 3-1 Lakers, with the closeout opportunity at Crypto.com Arena.

Durant signed a two-year, $90 million extension after Houston traded for him in the offseason [2]. He has played one full game this postseason. If the Lakers close tonight, the Rockets' first-round exit ends a roster experiment that the front office has not yet had to justify in public, and a labor-market data point lands in the same window every general manager in the league is finalizing summer plans.

The frame is not whether 37-year-olds get hurt in the playoffs. They do. The frame is what guaranteed money buys when the body underneath it has aged past the warranty. Houston's bet was that two years of Durant — even at half availability — would carry a young roster through a conference round. The bet is now sitting in a walking boot on a bench that has hosted him once.

The next number is not Game 5's score. It is whether the Rockets' offseason includes a stretch provision, a buyout conversation, or a quiet acceptance that the second year of Durant's deal becomes the lesson the next aging-star contract gets priced against.

-- AMARA OKONKWO, Lagos