Durant on his preseason debut with Rockets: ‘It felt like I’ve been here for a while’
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HOUSTON (AP) — Kevin Durant missed his first three shots Wednesday night in his first action with the Houston Rockets.
He didn’t miss after that.
Durant scored 20 points in 23 minutes to lead the Rockets to a 140-127 preseason win over the Utah Jazz after sitting out of Houston’s preseason opener on Monday night.
“I’ve felt right at home since I came here three or four weeks ago, so I felt normal,” he said. “It felt like I’ve been here for a while. The guys are welcoming pretty smoothly, the coaching staff, so it just felt normal. It ain’t feel any different.”
Durant joined the Rockets in July in a blockbuster trade that sent Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks to Phoenix. The 15-time All-Star and four-time Olympic gold medalist joins a young team that aims to take another step this season after finishing second in the Western Conference in the regular season before losing in the first round of the playoffs.
“Just took what the game gave him, wasn’t forcing anything, trying to get guys involved, took the shots that were there,” coach Ime Udoka said. “Ended up 7 for 10 and missed the three that he probably will make usually and so did what he does.
“Just getting his rhythm going, so it’s good to see him out there.”
The 6-foot-11 Durant was part of a starting lineup Wednesday night that included fellow 6-11 player Alperen Sengun and 6-10 Jabari Smith Jr. He loved the defensive looks they got when Sengun was handling the ball on the perimeter.
“When you’ve got your 5 man that can handle at the top of the key the spacing just opens the floor up so much for us and then makes us unpredictable because he can iso up there, he can go set the screen, dribble hand off, we can screen for him,” Durant said. “So, it throws the defense off when he has the ball up there and we trust he’s gonna make the right play every time.”
Sengun had 13 points and 13 assists in 27 minutes as the Rockets look for different facilitators in their offense with point guard Fred VanVleet out for the season after tearing his ACL.
“I didn’t know he had that many assists,” Amen Thompson said. “He just brings so much that he commands so much attention that it just gives us easy buckets.”
Thompson, who had 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists, was thrilled to see his first game action with Durant.
“It was fun,” he said. “Just having him as a release valve — every time I want an assist, I just throw it to him.”
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA