Kevin Durant accepts responsibility as Lakers hinder Rockets’ offensive play.
HOUSTON — The defensive performance of the Los Angeles Lakers late in Monday night’s potential playoff matchup left Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant struggling to find scoring opportunities.
The Lakers, who are hopeful about establishing a defensive identity after facing challenges on that front for much of the season, employed a consistent strategy of double-teaming Durant in the fourth quarter. This approach proved detrimental for the Rockets, who recorded nine turnovers and managed just 12 points on 4-of-16 shooting in the final period, enabling the Lakers to extend their winning streak to six games with a 100-92 triumph at the Toyota Center.
“I just felt like I lost the game for us tonight,” Durant remarked, having scored only two of his 18 points in the second half while contributing to seven of the Rockets’ 24 turnovers. “It’s that simple. Of course, we could have made more 3s, but it falls on me. To be honest, I’m the offense, and the opposing team is going to allocate all their resources to prevent me from getting comfortable.”
“In the first half, I was at ease in isolation, comfortable coming off pindowns and pick-and-rolls, but they decided not to let me feel that comfort anymore. So I need to be smarter and more effective with the ball. I should perhaps shoot over some of those double-teams, but also space out, be prepared to catch and shoot, be ready to set screens, and just be available in the dunker spot to provide options for my teammates. I didn’t need to have the ball as much as I did tonight.”
The Lakers (43-25) widened their lead over the Rockets (41-16) to 1½ games in the race for the third seed in the Western Conference. Houston, which will face the Lakers again on Wednesday night, is only half a game ahead of the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Houston has often encountered difficulties late in games when teams apply pressure by sending a second defender at Durant while he handles the ball at the top of the offense, leading the sixth-leading scorer in NBA history to suggest that he might need to “just get out of the way” and position himself in the corner to help space the floor in those scenarios.
Conversely, the Lakers’ defensive intensity is a recent development.
Los Angeles ranks 20th in the league in defensive efficiency, allowing 115.7 points per 100 possessions. However, the Lakers have demonstrated significant defensive improvement while winning nine of their last 10 games, including victories over multiple playoff contenders. During this stretch, they have allowed 109.3 points per 100 possessions, placing them sixth in the league.
A strong defensive performance was essential for victory on Monday night, as the Lakers struggled offensively aside from Luka Doncic’s 36 points on 14-of-27 shooting. In the second half, Los Angeles restricted Houston to 35 points and forced 15 turnovers, compensating for their own offensive challenges (8-of-34 3-point shooting for the game).
“It’s something that we’ve struggled with earlier in the season,” Lakers coach J.J. Redick stated. “I think that reflects the commitment our players have right now to that aspect of the game, recognizing that we need to excel on both ends of the floor. We have won many games through our offense, and we’ve shown, I believe, now — whether it was against the Knicks, the Wolves, or this game — that we can defeat strong teams with our defense.”
Doncic interrupted Austin Reaves from the adjacent locker to provide a humorous response to a question regarding the key to the Lakers’ defensive success.
“Luka locking that s— up!” Doncic joked.
In the interview room later, Doncic credited the Lakers’ defensive enhancement to “effort and communication.”
“That’s what good teams do,” Doncic noted. “Not every day will you have a great shooting performance.”
Rockets All-Star center Alperen Sengun was sidelined due to lower back pain, removing Houston’s second-leading scorer from the equation and simplifying the strategy of double-teaming Durant. The Lakers modified their approach to doubling Durant in the second half. As Redick explained, they chose to “fire” instead of blitzing him, waiting until Durant dribbled before sending the second defender.
“He’s one of the greatest players we’ve ever seen play obviously, so you’ve just got to try to show him different looks, try to keep him off balance,” said Lakers star LeBron James, who scored 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, including several impressive dunks to finish fast breaks. “And when he shoots, hope he misses. He doesn’t miss many shots. So I thought we did a good job of having a game plan, but also just varying our strategies. You can’t show a player of his caliber the same coverages throughout the entire game.”
Durant concluded the game shooting 8-of-16 from the field but only 1-of-5 in the second half, during which he committed six of his seven turnovers. He expressed uncertainty about whether the Rockets benefited from him being the primary ball-handler in late-game situations, given the team’s struggles when he faces double-teams.
“I just feel like it makes us stagnant,” Durant explained. “When I come across half [court] and they wait for me to drive, but I know they’re coming to double, so I hesitate for a moment. I just think the entire process is too slow. And I believe it’s all on me because the team, when they see me, it feels like one-on-five, to be honest. You know what I’m saying? Because I see two guys coming from the corner to help at the elbows and players at the boxes. It’s almost like a zone when I have the ball at the top. When I attempt to post up anywhere, I’m going to face double-teams. So I’m just trying to find ways to create opportunities for myself and my teammates.”
