[Guillory] Durant’s absence on the bench as his teammates fought tooth and nail to save the season only feeds into some of the negative narratives surrounding Durant and the Rockets all year.
In the postgame locker room, Udoka made his team rewatch their comedy of errors in the final moments of regulation and delivered a blunt message.
“Grow up,” he said. “You’re not young anymore. You’ve been to the playoffs once (before). (These are) horrendous mistakes.”
As the season was slipping away from his team late in the fourth quarter, Kevin Durant’s absence was never felt more than when he was sidelined for the second time this series because of injury. This time, it was a left ankle sprain he suffered during the second half of Game 2.
However, Durant’s presence wasn’t just missing on the floor. He was surprisingly absent from the Rockets’ bench the entire game.
When asked about it afterward, Udoka said Durant was in the locker room getting treatment during the game.
Even if that is true, Durant’s absence on the bench as his teammates fought tooth and nail to save the season only feeds into some of the negative narratives surrounding Durant and the Rockets all year.
Of course, Durant could only impact the game so much in street clothes. But having him on the bench could’ve been invaluable as the lead was slipping away late. The Rockets have talked all season about the value injured veteran point guard Fred VanVleet brings from the bench as the sage voice who has helped slow the game down for some of his younger teammates.
At best, it’s a bad look for someone of Durant’s stature to be missing during such a pivotal moment as his team is fighting to keep the season alive. At worst, it’s yet another example of the dysfunction that’s been such an overarching storyline around this Rockets team all year.
But beyond the off-court ramifications, the Rockets are clearly dependent on Durant’s skill set during moments like the one they faced late in Friday’s loss. He’s an amazing shot maker, and his presence demands so much attention from opposing defenses.
Without him, it puts added pressure on guys such as Sheppard and Smith to be decision-makers and ball-handlers in moments when they aren’t as comfortable serving those roles. That was especially true this season, since Durant missed only four games during the regular season, en route to playing the second-most minutes of any player in the NBA.
The Rockets have been bad enough at closing out games with Durant this season. Not having him out there made it even more difficult to close the game out the way they should have.
“Obviously, it’s different when he’s not on the floor. He’s a tremendous scorer. He can draw so much attention to himself when he’s out there,” Sheppard said. “It sucks not having him out there. But at the end of the day, it’s our job to go out there and fight and compete and win. That’s what we’ve got to do in the next four (games).”
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7228258/2026/04/25/rockets-lakers-game-3-kevin-durant/