After a rocky start to their road trip, the Houston Rockets defeated the Denver Nuggets 115-101 on Saturday afternoon. It was the second meeting between the two teams in the past five days. This time around, Kevin Durant showed that he’s more than just a mercenary closer for hire. Despite what his career since leaving OKC might suggest, in this game, he showed that he can be a leader.
KD Takes The Wheel To End Rockets’ Slump vs. Denver
“Not a bus driver,” that’s the book on KD in some quarters. Charles Barkley made the memorable, albeit terrible, analogy on Inside the NBA to bemoan the iso-demon’s lack of leadership credentials. Indeed, Durant has largely left the traditional locker-room leadership role to personalities that lean less aloof. There was Stephen Curry and Draymond Green with the Golden State Warriors. Kyrie Irving and James Harden with the Brooklyn Nets. Chris Paul with the Phoenix Suns.
If Durant was the leader or bus driver with the post-Paul Phoenix Suns, then that’s hardly a boon to his resume. The team stalled at the bottom of the standings and often looked as if the engine had fallen out. But Durant’s leadership was far from the biggest issue with that team.
A Leadership Vacuum
In Houston, Durant again has nobody to defer to. Alperen Sengun is a talented young All-Star with infectious locker-room energy and enthusiasm. That’s leadership of a kind. NBA teams need their glue-guys, and even better if they can be All-Star-level facilitators. But to return to Barkley’s (terrible) analogy, the bus driver isn’t normally the one who kicks off the road trip songs.
Houston’s leaders last year were Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks. Brooks was part of the package sent out for Durant, and VanVleet is missing the season due to injury. Whether he wants to be or not, Durant is naturally pulled into the leadership void.
KD is never going to look like a conventional leader. He’s not trying to be that. But having spent a career trying to reach the zenith of basketball perfection, he has become a deservedly revered figure in the sport. The dynamic in Houston isn’t so much that KD tries to lead. Instead, other players take their lead from KD.
They take their lead from his love for the game, from his desire to make the right play, to elevate and empower his teammates. And against the Nuggets, they took their lead from his refusal to lose a third game in a row. KD came out of the gates against Denver with an attitude.
He finished with 31 points, six rebounds, and five assists on 57.1, 83.3, 90.9 shooting splits. He also got into “spats” with both Tim Hardaway Jr. and former teammate Bruce Brown. The Durant kind of spat, without any actual spittle, just a little tit-for-tat. No cheap shots, no “hold me back”s. Durant beats you strictly with words and basketball. And maybe some goofy dance moves, like when he ran down the court after a score, apparently trolling a fan in the front row.
Getting out of a Slump
Coming off consecutive bad losses, Houston needed a pick-me-up. They started their six-game road trip with a sloppily officiated loss to Denver. They followed that up with a sloppily played loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. The Rockets led by 22 points at the half, only to give up 74 in the second, losing in overtime.
The Rockets have gone from scrapping for the two-seed to outside the top four. Given their record on the second night of back-to-backs, they desperately needed a win before heading into Sunday night’s clash versus the lowly Sacramento Kings.
The Last Word
Durant made sure the team got the win it needed. It’s maybe not a complete coincidence that his two most obvious proteges on the team also chipped in with terrific performances, as well. Jabari Smith Jr. scored 22 points on 5 of 11 three-point shooting, to go along with 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. Reed Sheppard had 28 points and 6 assists, shooting 9-of-15 from the field and 6-of-9 from three.
KD joined a Rockets team that already had a lot of its identity figured out. They play defense and ravage the offensive glass. Many felt like all they were missing was a closer. But now KD looks closer to earning his bus driver’s license than ever before.
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