Kevin Durant returned to the Houston Rockets’ lineup for Game 2 of the first round playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers. But that didn’t lead to a change in results as the Lakers again came out on top, defeating the Rockets 101-94 to take a 2-0 series lead.
A major key was the Lakers’ aggressive double-teaming of Durant, particularly in the second half. Marcus Smart spearheaded things, but it was an entire team effort in holding Durant to just three points after halftime and forcing him to commit four of his playoff-career worst nine turnovers in the fourth quarter. And he put the blame on himself, feeling he has to be better against this Lakers defense.
“This started doubling me from possession one. I think I gotta be better at not putting my teammates in bad positions,” Durant said after the game. “When I swing that ball out sometimes, sometimes I could beat the double, get downhill and make the shot a little easier for ‘em. Shoot the ball [with] two to three people on me. If I shoot the ball then we can get off offensive rebounds. So, I’m trying to make passes. I’m trying to make the correct reads, swing the ball sometimes, but I feel like I gotta shoot more of those and put my teammates in a better position.
“But I feel like we still got some good looks up at it. 24% from the three, 40 from the field, like tough night shooting the ball for us and they knocked down shots, they back court at 48 points combined, hit eight threes, and Rui [Hachimura] hit three threes itself, so it’s tough. But I just gotta be more aggressive to look to score no matter where the double team come from, no matter who doubling. There’s plenty of time. I feel like I can just shoot over those guys.”
The Lakers made it a point to hound Durant, bringing different players from different areas to keep things confusing and it worked. This wasn’t a new defensive strategy either, as Durant noted the Lakers have played them like this during the regular season and the Rockets have failed to make them pay by hitting shots.
“We played this team before and they know this is the way to stay in the game, is to play this type of defense,” Durant noted. “So we gotta make them pay. They’re gonna feel even more confident going into Game 3 knowing the first two games, they came out here with that type of defense and regardless of what else they did on the floor, they feel confident in us not making shots. It’s that simple. We dominated every other aspect of the game, but they dominated in the shotmaking department. We’ve got to be better. I gotta keep the ball in my hands, like I said, maybe shoot over some of those doubles and just go grab rebounds. But for the most part, just shoot it with confidence.”
The Lakers beat the Rockets in back-to-back road games just a month ago with a very similar strategy. In the first contest, they held Houston to just 35 points in the second half with Durant scoring just two points with six turnovers. Two nights later, they held Houston to 24 points in the fourth with Durant scoring only three points. And with the Lakers now up 2-0 in the series, Durant feels it’s just a matter of L.A. making their shots.
“We just not making shots to be honest,” Durant added. “We not shooting the ball well, we’re getting good looks. We missed a lot of layups. Yeah, I just think that’s the difference in the game. They’re making shots. [Marcus] Smart was the guy that knocked you down shots for him today. [Luke] Kennard too, but last game, Kennard got it going too. And they shoot the ball well; you know what I’m saying? So, we gotta cut their water off, but we also gotta be aggressive to knock down our shots too.”
In the first two games, the Lakers are shooting 52.9% from the field and 48.9% from deep compared to the Rockets’ 39% from the field and 29% from 3-point range. The defensive plan of swarming Durant and forcing the other Rockets to beat them has been working, but Houston will be sure to make some adjustments heading back home for Game 3.
Lakers’ LeBron James lives for playoff basketball
While Durant had his struggles, his rival LeBron James was outstanding in leading the Lakers and afterwards the superstar spoke about how much he lives for these moments and postseason basketball.
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