Earlier today we discussed about the possibility of the Houston Rockets and Philadelphia 76ers coming back to win their respective first round series. However, if the Rockets hope to win four consecutive games against the Lakers after losing their first three games, they will have to continue to win without their best player, Kevin Durant of Washington, D.C.
Durant is the veteran on the Rockets. At 37 years of age, he is a former MVP, two-time NBA Finals MVP, and is fifth all-time in NBA scoring with 32597 total points.
This season, Durant has been an instrumental part of the Rockets’s offense, as he been averaging a team high 26 points per game. However, in game two of their first round series against the Los Angeles Lakers, Durant injured his ankle. That has prevented the future Hall of Famer from playing the last three games.
While the Rockets have won the last two games of the series without Durant, there were hopes by many within the organization he would play in game six in Houston on Friday night. Well, we found out from Rogers Sportsnet on Thursday, that Durant will be unavailable.
In Houston’s last two games we saw just how strong Houston’s supporting cast actually is. In game four, a 115-96 Rockets win, point guard Amen Thompson of San Leandro, California had a team-high 23 points, while power forward Tari Eason of Portsmouth, Virginia had 20 points and was a +31. In game five, it was power forward Jabari Smith Jr.’s turn to shine as he led the Rockets with 22 points in a 99-93 Houston win.
Now the Rockets’s chances of winning the series against the Lakers diminishes without Durant. One still needs to remember that the Lakers have a major injury too as Luka Doncic has a hamstring ailment. Yes the Lakers have the all-time leading scorer in LeBron James, but what we have seen from the Rockets supporting cast has been impressive in games four and five, and cannot be written off when it comes to game six, and a possible game seven.
