Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets are 0-2 after following up their double overtime loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on opening night with a 115-111 home loss to the Detroit Pistons on Friday.
“Coaching staff is pissed off, players are pissed off,” he said. “We want a better outcome, and it’s early, too. So for us to feel that way I like that kind of energy.”
“We have championship-level expectations, so just trying to play our best game every game,” Amen Thompson said. “You know, bad games happen, but we’re still trying to win those.”
The Rockets are searching for a way to generate offense while balancing the strength of their defense with their double-big lineup.
“That’s why coaches get paid the big bucks; they got to make those tough decisions,” said Durant.
“It’s always good having a versatile team, but knowing once you throw these different lineups out there, it’s the toughest job as a coach. So we’ll be patient and keep growing and keep figuring things out. But defensively, we’re pretty solid,” said Durant.
The Rockets’ starting lineup of Thompson-Durant-Jabari Smith-Alperen Sengun-Steven Adams has won its minutes in both games.
“That’s the balance we have (to find): when to play fast, when to kind of ease up a bit,” Durant said. “And I think we’re figuring that out. Offensively, the last two games haven’t been what we want it to be, but it was always gonna be a work in progress, and we’re gonna get better from it tough two losses.”
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