Kevin Durant Explains Key for Rockets' Success Moving Forward

Points were made.

Jan 16, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) reacts to a replay against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second half at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images | Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets have had an up-and-down season thus far. It wasn't expected, upon acquiring Kevin Durant from the Phoenix Suns.

Not for a team that finished second in the Western Conference without a superstar the previous season. But once Fred VanVleet went down, the Rockets' chances of winning a title dropped off catastrophically.

Even the path for contending for one got that much more difficult. Because the ACL tear happened after the offseason was over. The Rockets' ability to replace VanVleet was limited, and will likely be impossible, outside of tapping into the buyout market (which will also have limited options).

The Rockets' issues have largely been the inability to make wide open shots. In fact, the Rockets rank 15th in field goal percentage when wide open and 15th in effective field goal percentage when wide open, which is defined as six feet of separation between the nearest defender.

The Rockets also rank 13th in 3-point percentage when open, at a clip of 34 percent. The league also defines open as four-to-six feet of separation.

Sometimes it's that simple. It's a make or miss league.

After securing a 110-105 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Rocket forward Kevin Durant explained the key for the team's success moving forward, on ESPN's Sportscenter.

"We're a physical group that plays with energy. We play defense and play for each other. I just think the last few weeks, we've been off on jumpshots. But we generate good looks, so we're excited about that. It's a matter of us making or missing shots. And tonight, we were able to get some threes going.

Reed Sheppard came in and hit three straight. I hit a few tonight, so it opened up the game for us."

Durant continued, explaining the importance of Reed Sheppard moving forward.

"We're gonna need it from him. A guy that can get hot, shoot the three, penetrate and make plays too. Great with his hands on the defensive side of the ball. So he made some good plays for us. We're going to need everybody to contribute if we want to continue to keep winning."

Sheppard had 14 points in 18 minutes on Friday night, but has been inconsistent of late, averaging just seven points over the previous three games.