Kevin Durant’s injury woes continue to overshadow the Houston Rockets amid their rough first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite being favored to beat Los Angeles sans Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, Houston trails the matchup 2-0. Durant didn’t play Game 1 due to a knee contusion. He returned in Game 2, but the Rockets’ fortunes didn’t change.
Durant was at the center of the team’s struggles with nine turnovers, as he often struggled with the Lakers blitzing him on every possession, a problem he’s not figured out over his past three outings against them. Now, a left ankle sprain might limit Durant. The Rockets have listed him as questionable, and he will likely be a game-time decision.
With injuries to both legs, there will be concerns about his on-court productivity. The Lakers have done well to exploit matchups offensively, and with Durant potentially limited, he could be targeted on defense, along with Alperen Sengun and Reed Sheppard.
The Rockets will hope the pain subsides before tipoff and Durant is somewhat close to 100%.
Kevin Durant stats vs. Lakers
Kevin Durant has averaged 27.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 55 games. He’s shot 49.5% from the field and 37.8% from 3-point range. Historically, Durant has found individual success against Los Angeles. However, this season has been a struggle. In three regular season outings, including two at home in Houston, Durant averaged 20.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 4.7 apg and 4.7 tpg. He’s shot 56.1%, but his overall game hasn’t been up to his standards.
The same issues have continued in the playoffs. In Game 2, Durant managed 23 points, six rebounds and four assists, but he had nine turnovers. He shot 58.3%, including 1 of 4 from deep. For Game 3, Durant is favored to score under 23.5 points, grab under 5.5 rebounds and dish over 4.5 assists.
Jabari Smith Jr. keeps it real about Kevin Durant’s woes against double teams
Kevin Durant’s struggles against double teams have been well-documented for three games. Durant addressed it himself on the last two occasions. After the final regular-season matchup between the teams, Durant sounded confident that Houston would figure it out in a playoff matchup. After the issues persisted, Durant said the Rockets needed to make shots and he needed to be aggressive when attacked with a blitz.
Jabari Smith Jr. dropped his two cents on the Lakers’ schemes against his star teammate on Thursday, saying it was on Durant to figure it out.
“It’s on him to find ways to get himself involved and get to his spots without the double team. Just because he’s getting double-teamed, we still need him to be KD.”
While the Rockets have struggled to shoot, credit also goes to the Lakers for timing their double teams and rotations when Durant has the ball. It’s one of the primary reasons Durant hasn’t been able to get off the ball when trapped. Ime Udoka has done little to counter it. After three games of the same issues, it’ll be interesting to see if he has something up his sleeve after getting outcoached by JJ Redick.
