Kevin Durant returned to the Rockets in Game 2 after going down in Game 1 without him, but the result was the same.
KD tied his playoff career high with nine turnovers and the Lakers were all over him on defense, including a double with him that no doubt led to a turnover.
Durant didn’t blame anyone but himself for the mistakes. He knows he has to be better in Game 3.
“This first made me double down on catching the ball. I think I have to be better at not putting my teammates in a bad spot,” said Durant after the game. “When I got that ball out sometimes, sometimes I could score two points, get down and make the shot easy for them. [with] two to three people for me. If I shoot the ball we can get off offensive rebounds. So, I’m trying to get through. I try to make the right reads, I swing the ball sometimes, but I feel like I have to shoot more and put my teammates in a better position.
“But I think we still look good about it. 24 percent from three, 40 from the field, like a tough night shooting the ball at us and knocking down shots, coming back from the field with 48 points, hitting three threes, and Rui. [Hachimura] hit three out of three itself, so it’s hard. But I have to be very aggressive to look to score no matter where the doubles team is coming from, no matter who is doubling. There is plenty of time. I feel like I can just shoot over these guys.”
The Rockets star revealed that his team knows what this Lakers team is like after facing them in the regular season and the Rockets need to be as strong as they are in getting a shot.
“We’ve played this team before and they know this is the way to stay in the game, is to play this type of defense,” said Durant. “So we have to pay them. They’re going to feel more confident going into Game 3 knowing the first two games, coming out here with that kind of defense and regardless of what else they do on the floor, they feel confident that we’re not going to hit shots. It’s as simple as that. We dominated every other aspect of the game, but they weren’t dominant in the shooting department. We have to continue to shoot the ball better. Those double-doubles and just grab rebounds but for the most part, just shoot it with confidence.
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