Kevin Durant was his own harshest critic Monday night.
The Rockets star was brutally honest with reporters after getting neutralized by late-game defensive adjustments, blaming himself for the Houston’s 100–92 home loss to the Lakers.
With its offensive engine hindered by a flurry of double-teams, Houston scored just 12 points on 4-for-16 shooting while committing nine costly turnovers in the final period.
“I just felt like I lost the game for us tonight,” said Durant, who scored just two of his 18 points in the second half and accounted for seven of Houston’s 24 turnovers. “It’s that simple. Of course we probably could make more 3s, but it’s on me. I mean, to be honest, I’m the offense and the opposing team is going to use all their resources and not let me get comfortable.
“First half, I got comfortable in iso, comfortable coming off of pindowns, pick-and-rolls and they decided not to let me get comfortable no more,” he added. “So I got to be smarter, better with the ball. I got to maybe shoot over some of them double-teams, but space out, be ready to catch and shoot, be ready to be a screener, just be in a dunker spot, just being able to be there as a resource for my teammates to provide space. I didn’t need to have the ball as much as I did tonight.”
The Rockets (41–26) have frequently struggled late in games when teams send reinforcements at Durant, but were further strained Monday night as All-Star center Alperen Sengun was sidelined to nurse lower back pain.
The Lakers (43–25) — who have won nine of their last 10 games behind an emerging defensive identity — planned accordingly, deploying several different coverages to disrupt Houston’s sole source of offense.
It proved a winning strategy for Los Angeles, which offset its own offensive struggles — save for Luka Doncic’s 36 points — by holding Houston to just 35 points and 15 forced turnovers, including six from Durant, after intermission.
“[Durant’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 LeBron James, who scored 18 points.
“And when he shoots, hope he misses. He don’t miss many shots. So I thought we did a good job of having a game plan, but also just switching up our pitches. Can’t show a great like that too many of the same coverages just throughout the whole game.”
The Rockets — now 1 1/2 games behind Los Angeles for third place in the Western Conference — will host the Lakers again Wednesday night.
Durant, who finished 8-for-16 from the floor but shot just 1-for-5 during the second half, would seemingly like to see Houston implement a different strategy in the rematch — questioning his effectiveness as the primary ball handler down the stretch.
“I just feel like it just makes us stagnant,” Durant said. “When I come across half [court] and then they waited on me to drive, but I know they’re coming to double, so I wait a split second. I just think the whole process is too slow.
“And I just think that it’s all on me, because the team, when they see me, it just feels like one-on-five, to be honest,” he added. “You know what I’m saying? Because I see two guys coming up out the corner to help at the elbows and guys at the boxes. It’s almost like a zone when I get the ball up top. When I try to post up anywhere, it’s going to be double-teams. So I’m just trying to find out ways to open myself up, open my teammates up.”
