Kevin Durant and the Rockets hosted the Lakers tonight in what initially felt like a playoff-level intensity three quarters into the game. But an abysmal showing in the fourth quarter saw the Rockets score only four points in the final 6:12 of the game to lose 92-100 down the stretch.
The 37-year-old veteran superstar started the game hot and had 16 of his 18 points tonight in the first half alone as the Rockets led 57-51 at the half. Subsequently, Durant scored only two points in the entire second half and caused multiple turnovers in the final six minutes.
Hence, he believed that he was responsible for the loss tonight. During the postgame press conference, a frustrated Durant spoke to the media and took accountability for his poor decision-making in some crucial moments.
“I don’t know, I just think we’ve got to convert,” Durant said when asked about how to avoid the double teams at the top of the key.
“Maybe I’ve got to just get out of the way, get in the corner, space the floor out for other guys. I think just that when I get the ball against certain teams, they’re just going to sell out and say ‘we’re just going to double, play a little zone behind and see what happens, maybe if we gave them open shots, that’s cool’ but maybe I just need to get out of the way to be honest.”
“Just set screens, catch and shoot, space the floor out for my teammates. It’s been happening throughout the season, maybe I just need to get out of the way and let other guys dribble the ball.”
“I just feel like we didn’t make shots. We were 5-26 from the three, and that usually helps when teams double you at half court, you swing-swing and make the three. But I missed two wide-open threes when we were up one at one point and could’ve pushed us up four.”
“I just feel like I lost the game for us tonight. My teammates could probably make more threes, but it’s all on me. To be honest, I’m the offense, and the opposing teams throw all their resources at not letting me get comfortable.”
“First half, I got comfortable in iso, comfortable coming down the pick and rolls, and they just decided not to let me get comfortable anymore. So I’ve got to be smarter, better with the ball, shoot over those double-teams.”
“As I said, space out, be ready to catch and shoot, be ready to be a screener, and be in the dunker’s spot, just being there as a resource for my teammates. To provide spacing, I don’t need to have the ball as much as I did tonight.”
Durant further dove into his ball-handling issues tonight. He took full responsibility for his mistakes down the stretch and had seven turnovers of the team’s total 22 in this fixture.
“It makes you stagnant,” said Durant on why he hesitates about being the primary ball-handler during the clutch moments of the game.
“When I come across the half, they wait on me to drive, but I know they’re going to double, so I wait a split-second, and I just think the process is too slow. And I just think that it’s all on me. When they see me, it feels like two-one-five to be honest.”
“I’m just trying to find out ways to open myself and my teammates up, and it’s looking like being a better screener, spacing the floor, not dribbling so much, being in a position to catch and shoot,” Durant added while suggesting that the Rockets look at Reed Sheppard and Amen Thompson as alternative ball-handlers down the stretch.
Here is every single Rockets half-court possession in the clutch.
Please watch the different coverages on KD and his reactions. https://t.co/nhipdqvQrG pic.twitter.com/ITsR5garl5
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) March 17, 2026
Durant also added that he would’ve faced the same issue if Fred VanVleet and Alperen Sengun were available to play tonight.
While he highlighted the team’s harsh reality by saying Van Vleet might make teams regret not guarding him with his ability to space the floor (pointing to the lack of floor spacing in the current team), he also took a shot at the Lakers.
“This team is not looked at as a defensive team. So when they can throw a gimmick defense, kind of disrupt, get away from their base coverages. Early on, we were getting whatever we wanted, so they made some adjustments like teams do and said, ‘well, we’re not going to let this guy beat us, so we’re going to try and take away some of his stuff.'”
Near the end of the press conference, Durant also pointed to one key factor that has caused the Rockets’ losses against championship-contending top teams in the league: their lack of shooting.
If you combine the Rockets’ three-point shooting stats from the Spurs (8-28), the Nuggets (4-33), and the Lakers (5-26) games, they shot for 17-87 from the floor, which is an abysmal 19.5% efficiency from three-point range.
The 37-year-old veteran finished the game tonight with 18 points, five rebounds, and two assists, going 8-16 from the floor (50.0 FG%), but also had seven turnovers,
Hence, the Rockets have multiple glaring issues to fix after tonight, as they are 15 games away from the postseason. They fell to 41-26 following this loss at home, and are still fourth in the West.
Meanwhile, the Lakers improved to 43-25 for the season and are currently third in the West. These two teams face off once again on Wednesday night. It will be interesting to see if the Rockets are able to make some instant changes to bounce back from this rough loss or if the Lakers prevail once again.
