In what may be the biggest upset of this year's playoffs, the Houston Rockets are on the verge of being eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers. The Rockets have struggled mightily against a shorthanded Lakers team that they were heavily favored to beat.
Most of their problems have been on the offensive end with them struggling to put the ball in the basket. In Game 1 they shot just 38% from the field, and in Game 2 they hit only 40% of their attempts.
Even with Kevin Durant back, they failed to beat the Lakers. Now with him potentially out for Game 5, Houston is staring down an elimination and a potentially tough off-season.
The Rockets are learning that Kevin Durant's talent comes with baggage
Durant and his teammates don't appear to be on the same page and may have a lot to do with him allegedly having multiple burner social media accounts. Durant is no stranger to having burner accounts and was allegedly using them to criticize his teammates.
Durant has side-stepped those questions, but the damage may already be done. However, Houston has even deeper problems.
They are poorly coached and simply don't have enough spacing to have a potent offense. As a result, the Lakers have exploited that.
Without major changes to their roster, they risk falling behind in a brutal Western Conference. That may also force the Rockets to consider trading Durant.
Kevin Durant may play his final game with the Houston Rockets
With internal beef between Durant and his teammates and them underachieving this season, Houston should consider trading him. However, he will make $53.2 million next season.
Even though he is still one of the best players in the NBA, he is also 38 years old. Combine that with his increasingly questionable reputation and few teams maybe willing to trade for him.
That could put the Rockets in between a rock and a hard place, with no easy way out this summer.
Add us as a preferred source on Google