Kevin Durant Saves the Rockets Once Again vs. Pelicans

At 37 years old, Kevin Durant never fails to show us why he's still one of the best scorers in the NBA. The Houston Rockets' newest superstar is not only efficient throughout games, but in the clutch. On Friday, he displayed that in its purest form against the New Orleans Pelicans.

With less than 10 seconds to play, at risk of losing to one of the league's bottom feeders, the 6-foot-11 sniper had the ball in isolation. It didn't take an analytics master to figure out who was taking the last shot. Durant rose up in the midrange and nailed a vintage game-winner with 7.8 to play.

KEVIN MF DURANT

Clutch. 🔥🔥🔥

pic.twitter.com/ywyWSqBjJc
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) March 14, 2026

The Pelicans would squander their opportunity as Zion Williamson turned the ball over, which led to two more Durant free throws to put his total at a team-high 32 points with six rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block. He shot 13-for-24 from the field and 3-for-7 from three-point range.

Nine of Durant's points came within the fourth quarter, accounting for exactly one-third of Houston's total in that stretch. In the final 12 minutes of play, he's averaging 6.4 points per game, which leads the team.

In clutch time (final five minutes), the former MVP notched seven of the Rockets' 11 points. It was clear that they wanted to get Durant as many looks as possible, but why shouldn't they? Houston brought him in to take over in tight situations and relieve the young core of late-game pressure. He did just that to give the team its 41st win of the season.

"I'm definitely nervous in that timeout, when coach draws up plays for me," Durant said after the game to Space City Home Network's Vanessa Richardson. "My teammates encourage me, I go out on the floor, then the nerves just go away. I just try to stick to my fundamentals and knock the shot down.

"We're missing out big fella [Alperen Şengün]. We played small all night, so we can be a versatile team. So we gotta keep getting better."

"I'm definitely nervous in that timeout"
--Kevin Durant's basket with 7.6 seconds to go puts the #Rockets up for good in Houston's 107-105 win over the Pelicans.

KD finished with 32 points and talked with @SportsVanessa after the @HoustonRockets WIN#AllFire pic.twitter.com/XDIW3i4J6l
— Space City Home Network (@SpaceCityHN) March 14, 2026

Houston has constantly relied on Durant to create offense, perhaps more than one would like. The Rockets have been trying to give him as much help as possible in that department, especially without a true point guard in Fred VanVleet.

They faced an inferior opponent and played down to the competition, but the Slim Reaper found a way to get the job done once again.