Kevin Durant had a historically poor playmaking game with respect to his personal stats in the NBA playoffs after he turned the ball over nine times against the Lakers in Game 2 on Tuesday. It was a playoff career-high in turnovers for the two-time NBA champion. Durant finished with fewer field goals (seven) than turnovers as Houston lost 101-94 and went down 2-0.
His return was expected to fuel the team’s offense after a worrying Game 1, where Houston put up a measly 98 points. However, while Durant’s presence gave Houston some life in the shotmaking department, there was a lot left to be desired with the team’s shot creation and playmaking.
Durant reacted to his performance, especially regarding the turnovers after the Lakers executed the game plan to double him since the get-go, saying:
“They started doubling me from possession one. I think I gotta be better at not putting my teammates in bad position when I swing that ball. Sometimes I could beat the double, get downhill, make the shot a little easier for them, shoot the ball with two to three people on me. … I’m trying to make the passes, I’m trying to make the correct (read), swing the ball sometimes, but I feel I gotta shoot more of those.”
Durant added:
“I feel like we still god some good looks … 24% from the 3, 40% from the field. Like, tough night shooting the ball for us and they knocked down shots. Their backcourt had 48 points combined. They hit eight 3s and Rui [Hachimura] had three 3s himself, so it was tough. But I just gotta be more aggressive and look to score no matter where the double team come from, no matter who doubling … I could have just shot over those guys.”
Kevin Durant finished with 23 points in his return, with six rebounds and four assists on 7 of 12 shots. He was 8 of 9 from the free-throw line. The Rockets committed 15 turnovers and conceded 15 points off them.
Kevin Durant has accumulated 20 turnovers in the last three games against this Lakers team
Kevin Durant’s turnover problem has existed and amplified against the Lakers more than any other team this season. Los Angeles has been exquisite in sending aggressive doubles at Durant and rotating in time if he gets the passes off on nearly every possession of the game. It has been the same pattern for three consecutive games, including their last two in a two-game regular-season mini-series in Houston in March, when the Lakers were fully healthy with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves available.
Durant had 36 combined points and 11 turnovers across the two games. In the first one, he had seven, with most of them coming due to the Lakers’ double-teaming him. While the Rockets haven’t shot as well as they would have liked and that could be a factor in the Lakers’ successful doubles, Durant not getting the pass off has been a consistent problem.
An attempted shot for the best offensive rebounding team would still be an efficient play over turnovers, so that’s something Kevin Durant and the Rockets would need to configure if they are to save the series in the pivotal Game 3 at home.
However, with three games of the same issues with Durant on the floor, the Rockets’ inability to counter it has been concerning. It will be intriguing to see if they can flip the script on Friday.
