The Houston Rockets on Monday presented the idealized version of what they desired from the pairing of Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun, a display they hope will be more the norm than an aberration.
Durant and Sengun each tallied 33 points in the Rockets’ 108-99 comeback victory over the visiting Memphis Grizzlies, the first of three home games for Houston this week, with the second coming on Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs.
Durant and Sengun were particularly lethal in the fourth quarter as Houston rallied from a 10-point, third-quarter deficit. Durant tallied nine points on 3-for-5 3-point shooting while Sengun ran roughshod over the Grizzlies with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists in the frame.
The Rockets have enjoyed varying levels of success exploiting the two-man game between Durant and Sengun. Against the Grizzlies, that dynamic pairing was essentially unstoppable.
“We’re learning each other,” Durant said. “And we’ll continue to learn each other as we both get better, (as) we both get more acclimated to the system. That process of figuring each other out is ongoing throughout the whole season.
“(Monday) is one of those nights you take a step in the right direction.”
When the Grizzlies shied away from double-teaming Sengun in the post, he eviscerated single coverage, especially when the Rockets executed the pick-and-roll, and Sengun had the advantage against a smaller defender. When the Grizzlies sent help, Sengun proved equally adept at feeding open teammates, with an open Durant the beneficiary from the perimeter.
“Because they don’t want to leave Kevin’s body, Alpi is able to get downhill a little bit,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “Kevin popped out and got those slip-out 3s and vice versa.
“It worked well together. Both draw a lot of attention. We didn’t really get other shots, but those two working together was really good at the end.”
After blowing a 16-point lead in a 111-106 loss to the Rockets on Jan. 20 and rebounding to beat the Utah Jazz on Jan. 22, the Spurs surrendered a 17-3 closing run to the New Orleans Pelicans in a 104-95 home loss on Sunday.
That inability to finish off opponents has become a moderate cause for concern for the Spurs, who remain the second seed in the Western Conference despite splitting their last eight games.
The core of the Spurs’ ascendant roster is flush with youth, so growing pains are to be expected. But a strong first half to this season elevated expectations, and the Spurs are seeking answers to resolve their current shortcomings.
“My take on that is we have a talented basketball team and that we might rely on it too much sometimes,” Spurs All-Star center Victor Wembanyama said. “We still do lots of mistakes, and we’ve been doing that. Not the willingness to do the same thing if it works over and over again, even though it’s repetitive.
“I know our talent bails us out often. There are some days you can’t make shots, so you have to be able to impact the game in every other area. There’s always going to be one of us that makes shots, but we need to do the hard things.”
