Kevin Durant's Postseason Impact will be Tied to Rockets' Teammates

Kevin Durant has been as advertised for the Houston Rockets this season. Not that it's a shock.

We know what Durant can do and exactly who he is. He's one of the greatest players ever and is on the cusp of surpassing the greatest player of all time in scoring in Michael Jordan. Although some would give that moniker to LeBron James instead.

The real shock is just how much Durant has been able to carry the Rockets on his shoulders. As of this writing, the Rockets have played 66 games already and have won 41 of them.

Last year's Rockets team that caught everyone by surprise and finished second-best in the Western Conference had just as many wins at the same point in the season. They were the Cinderella story of the season.

This year's team is missing three starters from that team, in Fred VanVleet, Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks, the latter two of which were sent away to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Durant. And that doesn't even factor in Steven Adams, who is out for the season and only played 32 games this year.

Durant has played the fourth-most total minutes in the league this season and averages 36.5 minutes per contest, which ranks third in the association.

And he's been able to average an efficient 26 points on a nightly basis, on 51.5 percent from the field, 40.6 percent from three-point land, 58 percent effective shooting, 88.6 percent from the foul line and 63.4 percent true shooting.

In spite of him being at the top of the scouting report every night. Again, this is par for the course for Durant.

But in the playoffs, Durant's effectiveness will be heavily contingent on how the Rockets' role players perform. Defenses will blitz Durant and force other players to beat them.

ESPN's Richard Jefferson explained in great detail how the defensive coverages Durant has seen are geared towards forcing others to step up.

"Look, he's just seeing a wall. One of the great players of all-time, offensively. This is where you need guys to be shooting threes to spread out the spacing.

When you're 2-for-24, the defense can key in on your primary scorer. You get two threes to Reed Sheppard, you get a couple threes to spread it all around. Now, you have to at least acknowledge that threat."

In this regard, Jabari Smith Jr. and Reed Sheppard will be paramount, as they've been two of the Rockets' best outside shooters, which can help create spacing for Durant to operate. Ditto for Tari Eason, who has had a career season from an outside shooting perspective, although he's been very cold of late.