Rockets Waste Fourth Quarter Lead While Kevin Durant Sits

The Houston Rockets had an eight-point lead entering the fourth quarter Friday night, then watched it disappear while Kevin Durant sat. With four starters on the floor, Houston managed one basket during his roughly five-minute absence.

That’s a miserable return from a group with enough talent to do considerably better. The Dallas Mavericks outscored the Rockets 15-4 during that stretch, turning Houston’s advantage into a three-point deficit before Durant returned.

Houston eventually lost 116-111 to the Dallas Mavericks, dropping to 5-1 and taking its first loss of the season. An unbeaten start was always going to end eventually, but the Rockets gave themselves plenty of reasons to be irritated with how this one happened.

Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., Clint Capela and Bogdan Bogdanović opened the fourth quarter for Houston. Calling what followed a bench collapse would be a convenient way to avoid the actual problem. Four members of the starting lineup were out there. Expecting that group to preserve some of an eight-point lead should be a fairly modest request.

Instead, Houston missed its first seven shots of the quarter. Bogdanović supplied two free throws, and VanVleet eventually made a floater, accounting for all four points before Durant returned. The Rockets finished that stretch shooting one for ten. VanVleet made one of five attempts, Thompson and Smith missed both of theirs, and Bogdanović missed his only shot.

That’s too much offensive responsibility producing too little offense. Houston had already done the work to put Dallas behind, then spent the opening minutes of the fourth giving that advantage away. Kyrie Irving scored 10 of the Mavericks’ 15 points during Durant’s absence. Caleb Martin supplied the tying three-pointer, and Irving subsequently hit another three to put Dallas ahead.

Houston’s contribution between those two baskets included a shot-clock violation. That sequence was particularly aggravating because the Rockets were struggling to score and still couldn’t get a shot away before the clock expired. 

Durant returned with roughly seven minutes left and Houston trailing. The Rockets turned a chance to protect their lead into another assignment for their leading scorer.

I understand the urge to ask why Durant stayed on the bench as the lead disappeared. Watching possession after possession end without points makes the substitution question pretty hard to avoid. But Durant had already played about 30 minutes, including the entire third quarter. He scored nine points on four makes in six attempts during that period, helping Houston enter the fourth with its advantage.

The players alongside him have to carry some of that responsibility. If four starters can’t produce more than one basket during a five-minute stretch, moving Durant’s rest around only addresses part of the problem.

I’m not at all saying his return immediately solved it, either- not at all. Durant missed his first four shots after checking back in and finished the fourth with two makes in seven attempts, scoring seven of his 11 points at the line.

VanVleet later tied the game twice, including with around two and a half minutes remaining. Durant and Thompson also each missed two free throws on separate late trips with Houston trailing by two.

Those possessions belong in any honest explanation of the loss. Houston had opportunities after the early drought, so blaming everything on Durant’s absence would excuse too much of what happened afterward.

Still, the frustration starts with watching an eight-point cushion disappear while four starters struggled to manufacture a basket. Houston can live with losing a game in October. But no one should be comfortable with how little it accomplished while Durant sat. He should be able to catch his breath without the rest of the Rockets losing their own.