Kevin Durant was his harshest critic Monday night.
The Rockets star was brutally honest with reporters after being distracted by a late-game defensive adjustment, blaming himself for Houston’s 100–92 loss to the Lakers.
With its offensive engine stymied by double teams, Houston scored just 12 points on 4-for-16 shooting while committing nine costly turnovers in the final period.
“I felt like I lost our game tonight,” said Durant, who scored just two of his 18 points in the second half and accounted for seven of Houston’s 24. “That’s easy. Yes, we could have made 3 more, but it’s up to me. I mean, to be honest, I’m to blame and the opposition will use all their resources and not let me off the hook.
“The first half, I’m comfortable in iso, I’m comfortable coming out of pindowns, pick-and-rolls and they decided not to let me get comfortable again,” he added. “So I have to be smart, I have to be better with the ball. I have to maybe shoot the other two teams, but the space is out, I’m ready to be a scout, to be in the dunker area, I can just be there as a resource for my teammates to give me space. I didn’t need to have the ball like I did tonight.”
The Rockets (41-26) often struggle late in games when teams send reinforcements to Durant, but they struggled again 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 a resurgent defense — planned accordingly, using several different coverages to disrupt Houston’s only source of offense.
It proved a winning strategy for Los Angeles, which made up for its own struggles — save Luke Doncic’s 36 points — by holding Houston to 35 points and 15 forced turnovers, including six by Durant, after the break.
“[Durant’s] one of the biggest players we’ve seen play obviously, so you have to try to show him different looks, try to stop him,” said LeBron James, who scored 18 points.
“And when he shoots, I hope he misses. He doesn’t miss a lot of shots. So I thought we did a good job of having a game plan, but also changing our pitches. We can’t show as good as that too many of the same combinations throughout the game.”
The Rockets – now 1 1/2 games behind Los Angeles for third place in the Western Conference – will host the Lakers again on Wednesday night.
Durant, who finished 8-for-16 on the floor but shot 1-for-5 in the second half, would like to see Houston use a different strategy in the rematch — questioning his effectiveness as the ball’s primary player on the floor.
“I feel like it’s holding us back,” Durant said. “If I meet half [court] they were waiting for me to call, but I know they will double, so I wait for a moment to separate. I think this whole process is very slow.
“And I think it’s all down to me, because the team, when they see me, they feel like they’re facing one of the five, to be honest,” he added. “You know what I’m saying? Because I see two guys coming out of the corner to help with elbows and guys in the box. It’s like a zone when I lift the ball up. If I try to post anywhere, it’s going to be double teams. So I’m trying to find ways to open myself up, open up my teammates.”
