The Rockets Will Have to Depend on Their Defense Again With No Kevin Durant

Throughout Ime Udoka’s tenure with the Houston Rockets, he sought to give the Rockets a distinct identity. Before his arrival in Houston, the rebuilding Rockets' only identity was a team full of young players still finding their way in the NBA and one that had lost many games. Udoka wanted, of course, to change it so his team was known as a tough, defensive-minded team that dominated the glass game in and out of games.

Of course, Udoka also wanted to be known as a team that wins games, and in his first three seasons, the Rockets have done that. Going from 22 wins the season before he arrived to 41 his first season and 52 wins in his next two, including this season. They accomplished that by being the team Udoka wanted them to be: one of the top defensive teams, dominating the boards.

The Rockets were happy with their progress last season, making the playoffs for the first time since 2020, but were not satisfied with their first-round loss to the Golden State Warriors. That's why they went out and traded for future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant because they felt that he was the missing offensive piece they needed to take the next step.

Those plans were somewhat derailed by injuries to Fred VanVleet before the season even started and, later, to Steven Adams, which ended his season. The Rockets still managed to win 52 games despite the injury in large part because Durant played in 78 out of the 82 regular-season games. The Rockets also were a top-five defensive team for most of the season and the top rebounding team despite the Adams injury.

Again, however, having Durant for the majority of the regular season cannot be overlooked, because he was the Rockets' most consistent offensive player all season, and his pure offensive excellence saved the Rockets on many nights. Now, with no Durant for the fourth time out of five games, the Rockets will have to lean again on their defense as they did in Game 4.

Rockets Will Have to Use Their Defense to Force a Game 6

The Rockets have struggled with their shooting in the first three games, with their 3-point shooting hitting rock bottom and a major reason for their 0-3 deficit. That wasn't the only reason the Rockets were on the brink of elimination. The Rockets also saw a slip in their defense across all three games, especially in games one and two.

The lack of defense really showed in the first quarter, as the Rockets surrendered 30-plus points in each of the first three games. That was not the case, however, in Game 4, as the Rockets showed from the opening tip that this would be a different game.

From the start of the game, the Rockets pressured the Lakers, sometimes full-court, which led to multiple turnovers, especially from LeBron James. They contested the majority of the Lakers' shots, and the defensive lapses seen in the first three games were gone in Game 4. The Rockets held the Lakers to the lowest output of the season at 96 points.

The Rockets tied a franchise high with 17 steals in the game and are the first team since 1998 to record 15-plus steals in consecutive games. The Rockets held LeBron James to only two field goals, which is his lowest made field goal amount in the playoffs since 2014, and forced LeBron into eight turnovers for back-to-back games.

Jabari Smith and Tari Eason especially stood out as the Rockets who had the biggest impact on defense. Smith and Eason held Marcus Smart and LeBron James to 5-17 shooting and only 19 points, as they have been the Lakers' two best playmakers this series.

That led to the Lakers scoring only 21 points in the first quarter and 26 in the second. That is the type of defense the Rockets will need back in Los Angeles, because the Lakers no doubt will want to end this series and avoid the trip back to Houston on Friday. If the Rockets can duplicate the defensive intensity they showed in Game 4 in Game 5, we might just have ourselves a series, and things get a lot more interesting going forward.

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