Kevin Durant’s short absence sparked worries about the Houston Rockets’ performance without him, as he is known for his scoring prowess. Speculation surrounding his absence was dramatic, but it was actually due to family matters. Nevertheless, the Rockets still secured victories in both games without Durant.
The Durant experiment prompted an admission that the experiment has been better than anyone could’ve possibly imagined anyways, for starters.
Especially without a traditional point guard, to make sure the Rockets get into their sets and actions.
Sengun has taken on that role, in that half court, albeit.
Him taking on that role wasn’t much of a surprise, considering his skillset. Historically speaking, there hasn’t been that many bigs with his skillset.
Outside of Denver Nuggets three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, of course.
Durant’s first-game back was Sunday against the Utah Jazz. And his return was as if he never left.
He waltzed his way to 25 points on 14 shots, going 10-of-14 from the field and 3-of-4 from the outside. Durant also poured in seven rebounds and four assists.
Not to mention four stocks.
But the game was over at the half, as Houston led 67-48.
And ultimately won 129-101.
The Rockets rank third in the Western Conference, to the tune of 13-4 overall on the season.
The basketball writers at The Athletic ranked the Rockets fourth overall on their power rankings, maintaining their ranking from last week.
Their calculus is below:
“Durant missed return games in Phoenix and Golden State, which allowed the Rockets to show that their strong play goes beyond him. Then Durant came back after Thanksgiving and picked up where he left off. This is the first time in 14 years that Durant is under 50 percent from the field (he’s close enough at 49.8), and he is averaging his fewest points (24.6) since his rookie season. He’s in his 19th season, and the bigger picture is that he fits what Houston needs next to All-Star Alperen Şengün and the emerging Amen Thompson.”
The Rockets lost their second game to the Jazz on Monday night. In that game, Durant, the aforementioned Sengun and Thompson combined for points.