The Houston Rockets have had a frustrating start to the new year. After finishing last year with a three-game winning streak, which the Indiana Pacers ended, the team has won just two of its five games, including back-to-back losses to the Portland Trail Blazers. Now, the team’s problems are being aired publicly.

“You take a 37-year-old out of the game for two minutes, and you lose a 13-point lead, 11-0 run,” Rockets head coach Ime Udoka told reporters after the most recent loss to the Blazers. “Making shots helps, but you have to guard on one end. You have to play with some aggression on one end, drive it physically, take care of the ball, and not turn it over.”

It was clear on the bench. In the final stretches of the game, Durant was spotted throwing a bottle at the floor, clearly frustrated with the team’s play.

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Udoka didn’t stop there, highlighting the key mistakes the team made while Durant was sitting. A 15-point third quarter, when the team went 1-17 from three-point range, missing multiple wide-open looks.

Even worse, the team let defensive lapses turn into instant momentum swings as their opponents kept piling on.

By the time Durant returned to the game, the damage was done. Udoka expressed frustration with having to rely on the 37-year-old forward for 40-plus minutes, not as a shot at Durant, but as an indictment of everything happening around him.

Over the new year, Durant has logged 37.9 minutes per game, carrying an incredibly high load on the offensive end as one of the lead playmakers in the absence of both Fred VanVleet and Alperen Sengun, while also putting up nearly 30 points per game during this stretch. Tonight, Durant logged 30 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists with two steals.

Kevin Durant’s Milestone Night Turns Into Harsh Reality Check For Rockets

For a while, Kevin Durant’s night felt like a turning point for the Houston Rockets. The forward hit a third-quarter three-pointer to pass Wilt Chamberlain to reach seventh on the all-time scoring list, and pushed the Rockets into a lead.

It sparked a 14-2 run that put his team up by double-digits late in the period, and it looked like a statement win; a veteran star guiding a young group on the road.

Instead, it became the clearest snapshot of the Rockets’ continuing problems. As Udoka noted, Portland opened the fourth on an 11-0 run, erasing the Rockets’ 13-point lead in a matter of minutes.

Apart from shooting an abysmal 1-17 from three, the team also made just six of their 28 field goal attempts in the final frame, failing to slow the game down defensively or generate any rim pressure.

Their void was filled by the Blazers’ explosion. Toumani Camara‘s career-high 25 points set the tone, with Deni Avdija and Sidy Cissoko delivering decisive plays to close the door. Houston leaned harder on Durant as the game slipped away, but it was too late.

After back-to-back games with late collapses, the uncomfortable truth cannot be ignored: Durant can still elevate the Rockets, but the structure underneath him isn’t holding up.