Overreliance on Kevin Durant Could Be The Rockets' Undoing

Just one day after suffering one of their biggest losses of the season, the Houston Rockets bounced back with a clutch victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves with Kevin Durant's best scoring performance this year.

Durant's shot making was on full display as he navigated through Minnesota's defense into opportunities, converting his shots at a high rate.

Without his production, the Rockets may not have had the firepower to keep up with the Timberwolves, even with superstar Anthony Edwards not in the lineup. That's a precarious situation for a team that dreamed of an NBA Finals appearance this season.

Durant is reaching the twilight years of his career, and Houston's dependence on his production could lead to the team falling short of what it hopes to accomplish in the next few seasons.

The Rockets aren't getting enough production form their other top contributors to support Durant against the league's best. Amen Thompson has been having a quality stretch, but he has several offensive limitations. Alperen Sengun is getting on a roll after suffering a short term injury, but players like Tari Eason and Dorian Finney-Smith have been managing injuries all season.

It doesn't help that shooters like Jabari Smith Jr. and Reed Sheppard have been hitting a low percentage of their deep range shots this month. After the Rockets shocked the league with the best shooting and scoring in the first part of the season, they've come back to earth with extreme velocity as their shooting percentage has cratered in the New Year.

All of these difficulties have added up to the Rockets needing Durant to help them stay competitive against opposing teams.

Durant has shown he is definitely capable of providing enough of a scoring punch to help the Rockets win at a high level, but there is fluctuating assistance beyond his production.

If the Rockets can't figure out a way to get some of their players back to how they were playing to start the season, the end of their season may come sooner than the front office hoped when they made the big swing trade for Durant.

The vision was to have Durant in the game during the highest pressure moments of the season, where hitting tough shots is paramount. No player in NBA history is better equipped to hit those tough shots than Durant, but the Rockets may not put him in the situations to do the most damage if the rest of the team can't support his efforts.

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