Rockets are learning dire Kevin Durant lesson Suns already knew

The Rockets were without Kevin Durant once again in Game 3, which led to another loss and a daunting 3-0 deficit in the series. Unfortunately, Durant’s health at his age is coming back to bite the Rockets, just as it did for the Suns last season. Even though Durant has his own flaws, the Rockets would much rather have him healthy for these playoff games.

Kevin Durant has faced injury struggles before

Durant was shockingly healthy this season and able to give the Rockets a reliable veteran scoring presence that they needed. He played 78 games in the regular season, his most in 7 years. But his body is now breaking down at the worst time as he’s missed Game 1 and Game 3 of this series.

Without him, the Rockets are forced to rely on their younger players and shaky coaching to lead them. They sorely missed Durant in their Game 3 collapse, as they gave up a 6-point lead in the last 30 seconds of regulation to lose in overtime. Houston’s youngsters looked unprepared for the moment and their leader was in street clothes on the sideline.

Last season, Durant also had injury struggles and only managed 62 games for the Suns. Phoenix struggled to find a rhythm and missed the postseason entirely. Unfortunately, neither of these injury spells are a surprise given where Durant is in his career; he was 36 last season and 37 now.

The Rockets will need Durant back to have any hope 

The Rockets have not found any offensive rhythm in their series and will probably need Durant in the lineup to do so. Aside from him, they have very few respected shooters in the rotation and nearly nobody else capable of reliably generating their own offense. Bringing Durant back into the fold gives the Rockets an apex scorer and helps everyone else fit back into their natural roles.

With Durant in the mix, the Rockets have some hope of rediscovering their offensive flow from the regular season. As they went on a late-season winning streak, Durant’s playmaking stood out and the whole team got open shots. If they can do that again, they may have some chance at making their first-round series competitive yet.

If Durant isn’t able to return in this series or is limited by his injuries, the Rockets are dead in the water. They may already be out of realistic contention given their 3-0 deficit, but Durant’s absence just makes the final outcome more certain. The Rockets are unfortunately paying the price for relying heavily on a 37-year-old star in the absolute worst way.

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