Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka said he isn’t surprised to see Kevin Durant make history during their 111-105 loss against the Portland Trail Blazers, as the one-time league MVP passed Wilt Chamberlain for seventh on the league’s career scoring list on Friday. In fact, he criticized his players for being overreliant on Durant’s offense.
“No, it doesn’t amaze me when you see the work ethic and what he does on a day-to-day basis,” Udoka said of Durant via the Associated Press.
“You take a 37-year-old out of the game for 2 minutes, and you lose a 13-point lead,” Udoka continued. “11-0 run. That’s what went wrong. Don’t play with any aggression, confidence. Mentally weak. And have a 15-point quarter, 1-17 from three, I think, with a bunch of wide-open looks… The fact that we have to rely on a 37-year-old for 40+ minutes is a problem.”
Durant needed 15 points going into the game to leapfrog Chamberlain (31,419), and the Houston Rockets forward did so with a jumper midway through the third period. He finished with 30 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and four three-pointers on 11-for-20 shooting in the losing effort.
Houston Rockets News: Kevin Durant expresses gratitude after hitting scoring milestone
Kevin Durant is not taking anything for granted in his 18th NBA season. Besides leapfrogging Wilt Chamberlain in the NBA all-time scoring list on Friday, the Houston Rockets forward also surpassed 8,000 career rebounds.
“Wilt is somebody I studied and try to look up as much as I can on a player like that. He set a standard for NBA players and was grateful to reach that, and was inspired by what he produced in the game of basketball. Portland is such a classy, classy city for recognizing me in that moment and honoring me,” Durant said postgame.
As of this writing, Durant is only 126 points away from becoming the sixth-best scorer in NBA history, which would have him over Dallas Mavericks icon Dirk Nowitzki.
