Kevin Durant was disappointed with his all-around performance, despite a rousing 38-point performance in Game 2 against the Houston Rockets, noting the myriad of defensive mistakes that plagued the Golden State Warriors.
“We just got to guard,” Durant said when asked about the Rockets targeting Curry and reserve Nick Young, according to ESPN’s Chris Haynes. “They’re making us play old-school one-on-one defense. We just got to guard, and not foul. We got like three or four and-1s there in the third quarter from reaching in. We just got to guard and man up and see what happens.”
The Rockets strategy didn’t change altogether, but they rather made quicker decisions and weren’t forced into shot-clock violations, something Durant noticed throughout the outing.
“We obviously want to fly around defensively, but if it doesn’t call for that and a team is not moving the ball, or they’re not having body movement, if we stay in front of the ball, we’re guarding up, then we’ll be fine,” Durant told ESPN. “Sometimes you need to play man-on-man defense and just try to just get a good shot or make a guy shoot over you, and other times, you might need to help and get a steal or a block. It just depends on how the game’s going. With this team, they make you do both.
“But I’m not giving up no intel, man. Just man up. Just play one-on-one D. Just lock in and try to make it as tough as they can on their guys that scored and we’ll go from there. And we have to scramble out and play with a little more focus.”
Durant also totaled zero assists in Game 2, making the most of his one-on-one opportunities with a 13-of-22 shooting night, which didn’t prove enough to earn the win against a hot-firing Rockets team.
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