HOUSTON — Moments after draining a 27-foot game-winning shot over his former Suns teammates, Rockets veteran superstar forward Kevin Durant found it difficult to contain his emotions. The pleasantries exchanged after the final buzzer indicated the existence of bonds that still remained between Durant and his old colleagues, but the raw emotion of the moment — or more importantly, what it represented — took over. 

“I don’t mean to sound too dramatic, but I will,” Durant said following his 26-point, 10-rebound performance in a 100-97 win on Monday night. “To be kicked out of a place and I felt like I’d been scapegoated for the issues we had as a team last year, yeah it felt good to beat them and hit a game-winning shot.”

Durant’s blunt honesty, delivered in an almost satirical fashion, cut through the room like a knife, all while reminding us of the other side we don’t see often. The fast-paced nature of the NBA — and the business of basketball, to some degree — routinely eschews personal feelings in lieu of the overarching structure of the sport. Our brains are wired to the transactional roller coaster the game brings, obsessed with trade talk, free agency and mass upheaval. 

But far too often, we forget that for as much fun as it is to drum up fake trades and hypotheticals, these players are living out their lives in front of us — with real feelings and experiences. The NBA is the great equalizer, from the two-way late roster addition to the future Hall of Famer with one of the most decorated resumes in basketball history. Regardless of how Durant eventually found his way to Houston, it was evident the Suns, despite the fiasco that their 2024-25 campaign was, were comfortable with a future without Durant. 

“It hurt because I put all my effort, love and care towards the Suns and Phoenix area,” Durant added. “But that’s just the business. That’s the name of the game. So when you play against a team, you got a chip on your shoulder. In the back of my mind it’s there. Nothing but love for the players, but I want to beat that team.”

Durant’s leadership and poise are especially needed in moments like this. The Rockets will be without starting center Alperen Şengün for at least two weeks after the Turkish big man rolled his right ankle against Dallas over the weekend. But Houston’s issues with their crunchtime execution have been well-documented, still with a 7-9 clutch record and a -9.7 net rating, per Second Spectrum. Head coach Ime Udoka has routinely expressed his satisfaction with how Durant approaches the game and closing moments, seeking out the best play instead of his own. But Monday night was a gentle reminder that perhaps one of the NBA’s best finishers should have the ball in his hands with the game on the line. 

“We wanted to get him the ball at the right spot,” Udoka said. “We want to keep it simple, not do too much where they can deny or take something away. Get him open to his spot. He said it felt good as soon as he let it go.”

With the win, Houston has now won five out of their last six games and are just two games out of second place in the Western Conference. An important upcoming road trip with two games in Portland and Sacramento could set up the Rockets for a big homestand to kickstart the new year. 

However things shake out, it is all a reminder of Durant’s immense talent and what his presence means for the Rockets. And that superstars are people too.

What’s next for Giants this offseason after two additions to starting rotation? originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — If any talks heat up for the Giants over the next few days, they will face an interesting challenge.

Buster Posey, Zack Minasian and Tony Vitello are part of a large contingent that flew to South Korea this week for a goodwill tour in Jung Hoo Lee’s home country. Willy Adames joined, along with members of the team’s ownership group, marketing department and social media staff, with plans to hold clinics and join Lee at a dinner. Posey and Minasian are scheduled to meet with the commissioner of the KBO while in Seoul, further strengthening relationships that they hope will pay off down the line. 

The time difference is significant, but right now, it doesn’t figure to be much of a problem. After the Tyler Mahle deal became official on Monday, the Giants appear to have done most of their heavy lifting this offseason. 

Minasian, sitting in a hotel room halfway around the world, hopped on a Zoom call with reporters on Monday to discuss the state of the rotation. The answer has been the same most of the winter.

“It’s my stock answer: I don’t know if we’re ever done,” he said of adding more arms. “I think we’re very comfortable with the five that we have and then the bundle of arms behind them now, to say that our depth is in a much better spot than it was at the beginning of the offseason. 

“We’re happy with where we’re at. We’ll keep working at it, but we do think this is a solid five-man rotation going into the spring.”

The Giants don’t want to publicly close off any potential pursuits, but there’s not really much they need to say when it comes to their rotation. The math is the math.

In Logan Webb, Robbie Ray and Landen Roupp, they already had three starters. Adrian Houser and Mahle both came to San Francisco to be in the rotation, and the Giants are hopeful that they’re getting both on the upswing, similar to what they did a few years ago with Kevin Gausman and Anthony DeSclafani.

They ended up taking a short-term approach this winter, but there were other ways, and they were discussed at length internally early in the offseason. The market was and still is full of guys — Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez, etc. — looking for big deals. There also is a middle class of experienced players and safer options who could have been had around the combined price of Houser (two years, $22 million) and Mahle (one year, $10 million). Merrill Kelly, for instance, signed a two-year, $40 million deal. 

The most interesting option, at least for the fan base, was Tatsuya Imai, a right-hander from Japan who signed a three-year, $54 million deal with the Houston Astros last week. The 27-year-old seemed to check a lot of boxes, and Giants officials certainly noticed that he went out of his way to make it clear he wants to face the Dodgers. But what ultimately mattered was their evaluation of his talent, makeup and fit in a big league rotation. 

The Giants viewed Imai as more of a back-end starter, with real risk that his repertoire will prove to be too limited to be a consistent big league starter. There were concerns about the way his fastball will play, and while the contract ultimately came in well short of early industry expectations, it’s structured in a way that makes 2026 particularly important. Because of the posting fee and opt-outs, it could end up becoming more of a one-year deal in the $30 million range.

That’s beyond where the Giants valued Imai, and while they checked in early in the process, they were not involved in recent weeks, per a source familiar with discussions.

Instead, it will be Houser and Mahle, although there is risk there, too, particularly with Mahle. The right-hander has made more than 20 starts just twice in the past six seasons, and while he had a 2.18 ERA last season, shoulder discomfort limited him to 16 starts. 

This is the time of year when teams preach optimism, but the Giants also are realistic about the group they have put together behind Webb and Ray. Roupp had an elbow scare last summer. Houser has had fewer health issues than Mahle, but also has just one season of more than 21 starts. 

The Giants dug deep on Mahle’s medical history and Minasian noted that trainer Dave Groeschner and his group have a strong history with pitchers. Still, the odds are good that a fill-in starter will be needed at some point. 

“I think it would be foolish for us to not recognize that it’s a risk,” Minasian said. “Obviously there’s a history there.”

Posey said early in the offseason that his biggest lesson in Year 1 in charge was that you truly can never have too much pitching, and Minasian often mentions that the Giants used 15 starters last year. That will make the young depth particularly important, and the 2026 Giants ultimately might sink or swim based on whether they can get a couple of young starters to break through. 

Hayden Birdsong is the most obvious candidate, mostly because he has shown flashes of it before. When the front office and Vitello interviewed potential pitching coaches late last year, they were asked specifically about what they might do to unlock Birdsong’s potential. Carson Whisenhunt, Blade Tidwell, Trevor McDonald, Kai-Wei Teng and others provide depth, although several could end up in a bullpen that hasn’t seen significant additions. 

“We do think there’s going to be an opportunity for our young starters and we’ve shown an openness to use some of these arms in the bullpen as well,” Minasian said. “We need to put the best team on the field and if that means some of these younger pitchers going in the bullpen, we’ll have to be open-minded to that. I don’t think you can have too much pitching. A lot of these things tend to work themselves out and we’re certainly happy when you look at the amount of depth.” 

The Giants have committed just under $25 million to their 2026 roster this winter, and while there have been surprises from the Posey regime — most notably the Rafael Devers deal — the current expectation is that the rest of the offseason will be spent filling gaps instead of chasing a splash.

They continue to pursue second basemen, with St. Louis’ Brendan Donovan and Chicago’s Nico Hoerner standing out as potential options in trades. That market is expected to move quickly once free agent Alex Bregman chooses a home.

It’s possible a veteran outfielder becomes the right fit as players scramble to find spots before pitchers and catchers report, although it would be a requirement that the player is a strong defender. One of the major goals in Vitello’s first season is to improve what was an awful defensive outfield in 2025.

A lot is being put on Vitello’s shoulders, and internally, there is a hope that the new staff makes a huge difference right away. That will be necessary after a relatively quiet offseason, but the front office still has several weeks to seek additional help. 

“I think the goal is just to continue to improve,” Minasian said. “Whether we’re going to be able to do that or not remains to be seen. We’ll keep trying, but with us, it’s easy to look around the field and see certain positions that are completely locked in (with) players that are signed here that are proven players. 

“And then obviously there’s positions where there are players there that we believe in, but we’ll continue to look outside and see what’s available and what the cost will be.”

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Kevin Durant did not hold back after beating his former team on Monday night.

Durant hit a game-winning shot with just 1.1 seconds left on the clock to lift the Houston Rockets to a 100-97 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday. He caught an in-bounds pass with Royce O’Neale on him, dribbled twice and pulled up easily to sink the shot from deep. 

Naturally, that sparked a huge celebration at the Toyota Center and prompted some very clear taunts from Durant.

But it was what Durant said about the Suns after the game that was the most notable part of the night.

“Most definitely,” he said when asked if the shot meant more because it was against the Suns, via The Associated Press. “[That was] a place that I didn’t want to leave. My first time — I don’t want to sound too dramatic, but I will — to be kicked out of a place.”

Durant spent 2 1/2 seasons with the Suns before the team traded him to the Rockets in a massive deal last summer. The Suns made it to the second round of the playoffs only once with Durant on their roster, and they missed the postseason completely last season. Durant also had three different head coaches during his time in Phoenix, and the organization has a new one running things now in Jordan Ott. 

While the Suns had more issues with their roster than just Durant, he said he felt like all of the blame was placed on his shoulders.

“It feels good to play against a team that booted you out of the building and scapegoated you for all the problems they had,” he said. “And it hurt because I put all my effort and love and care towards the Suns and the Phoenix area and Arizona in general. But that’s just the business, that’s the name of the game. So, when you play against a [former] team, yeah you got a chip on your shoulder.”

Devin Booker led the Suns with 27 points in the loss. O’Neal finished with 15 points, and Dillon Brooks added 15 points. The Suns now sit at 21-15 on the season, and have won six of their past eight to climb rapidly in the Western Conference standings.

Durant finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds in the win for the Rockets. His game-winner was just the second 3-pointer he made all night. Durant went 2 of 12 from behind the arc.

Both Amen Thompson and Jabari Smith Jr. finished with 17 points and seven rebounds each, and Tari Eason added 12 points and eight rebounds. Houston now holds a 22-11 record this season.

“Even though I’m old, I still can play,” Durant said. “I feel like every player has that mentality playing against their former team. I don’t think it’s malicious in any way towards them. But just as a competitor, you want to go out there and beat them.”

While Durant is still clearly harboring some negative feelings toward the Suns organization, he’s gotten most of his matchups against them out of the way early. Monday’s game wasn’t the Rockets’ first against the Suns this season; it was their third. All three of them have been wins. The Rockets won’t play the Suns again until April 7. If the two teams don’t see each other in the playoffs, that’ll be it until next fall.

Yet despite his comments, Durant may not even care by then — or even by the time he left the Toyota Center.

“By the time I get home tonight, I probably won’t even remember it,” he said. “Well, I will remember it, but I’ll try my best to forget about it and move on to the next one.”

Golden State head coach Steve Kerr was thrown out of the Warriors’ 103-102 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night.

Fortunately for NBA fans, Snoop Dogg was on the call on Peacock to take everyone through it.

Kerr erupted midway through the fourth quarter of the game at the Intuit Dome after becoming increasingly frustrated throughout the game. It was a block from John Collins, who stuffed Gary Payton at the rim and blocked his layup off the backboard, that finally set off Kerr for good. After Stephen Curry was called for a foul on the other end, an irate Kerr charged toward the officials screaming and arguing for a goaltending call.

It took an assistant, Payton and Gui Santos restraining him to keep Kerr back while he picked up two technical fouls, which triggered the ejection. Kerr then quickly walked off the floor and into the tunnel.

Snoop Dogg was a special guest on the broadcast for Peacock’s tripleheader Monday night. He joined regular announcers Reggie Miller and Terry Gannon in a unique event ahead of his participation in the network’s coverage of the Winter Olympics next month in Italy.

While it didn’t have an impact on the game, his presence on the broadcast made Kerr’s ejection that much more memorable.

Kerr declined to speak with reporters after the game. Instead, assistant coach Terry Stotts took his place.

“I’m up here to save Steve some money,” he said, via the California Post’s Melissa Rohlin.

The Clippers led for most of the game Monday night, and even built up a 14-point lead in the third quarter before the Warriors came storming back down the stretch. Curry brought the Warriors within a single possession after hitting a huge 3-pointer with just more than a minute left in the game before fouling out. Draymond Green, who was briefly considered questionable to return with a rib injury after he crashed into the bench just before halftime, then cut the deficit to a single point with a layup.

While Jimmy Butler had a look at a game-winner, his turnaround jumper was just off the mark at the buzzer. That secured the Clippers’ one-point victory.

Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 24 points and 12 rebounds, though he went 0 of 8 from behind the arc. Kobe Sanders added a career-high 20 points and seven rebounds, and Collins finished with 18 rebounds. The win for the Clippers pushed them to 13-22 on the season.

Curry led the Warriors with 27 points and six assists in the loss. Butler added 24 points and six rebounds. Those two were the only Warriors starters to hit double figures, and they combined to shoot just 5 of 19 from the 3-point line. The loss dropped Golden State to 19-18 on the season.