Kevin Durant thought he saw the best version of the Lakers’ defense a month ago.
Afterthe Lakers beat the Rockets on March 18 in Houstonfor the second time in three days, Durant said, “This is the best version of their defense that they’re gonna bring out against us … if we do play them again, we got film to watch and learn from.”
The accurate part of what Durant said at the time was that the Rockets had two games of film to learn from.
The inaccurate part:That the March 16and March 18 regular-season matchups were the best versions of the Lakers’ defense.
Because the Lakers have been even better defensively in the first two games of their best-of-seven first- round playoff series, leading LA to a 2-0 lead ahead of Games 3 and 4 in Houston on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Through two games, the Rockets are shooting 39% from the field, 29% on 3-pointers and have a 104.9 offensive rating (points per 100 possessions), worse than the Nets’ league-worst offensive rating (108.2) during the regular season.
The Lakers followed upa strong defensive showing in Game 1 on Saturday, when they allowed 98 points to the Durant-less Rockets, with an even stronger performance inTuesday night’s 101-94 Game 2 winagainst aRockets team that had Durant back in the lineup.
“It gives anybody confidence,” the Lakers’ Marcus Smart said after Tuesday’s win. “When you’re able to tackle up against one of the greatest scorers in this game, and for him to say that, to have that type of view about you and opinion about you, speaks volumes. That just speaks not just me but this team and the things that we put in every day to help each other out and to make sure that we’re locked in, and we go out there and make it as tough as possible.”
Durant, fifth among the NBA’s all-time leading scorers, was efficient as a shooter in his return after missing Game 1 because of a right knee contusion.
He scored 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting in Game 2.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
