2018 NBA Playoffs: 5 factors that will determine the outcome of the Western Conference Finals

#3 Who will guard Kevin Durant?

The Rockets made some shrewd moves on the free agent market and via trades this offseason, the most notable of which was the record-breaking Chris Paul trade. They added Luc Mbah a Moute, PJ Tucker and later on, Gerald Green and Joe Johnson. And yet, there is one glaring weakness in their team (although they're by no means unique to this).

In addition to dealing with Golden State's mesmerizing ball movement, fast pace, and 3-point shooting, what the Rockets will have to contend with is the ultimate cheat code possessed by the Warriors - Kevin Durant. The Slim Reaper is the most unguardable player on the planet, as he has every single offensive skill sorted and can score a bunch of points in a very short spell of game time.

His mid-range game, however, is what sets him apart from the rest of the elite scorers, as he can just shoot over literally anyone guarding him - we saw a prime example of that in Game 5 of the Warriors-Pelicans series when even Anthony Davis with his 7'6" wingspan was unable to contest or block his jump shot.

Luc Mbah a Moute, PJ Tucker and Trevor Ariza are all forwards who can match up against him, but Tucker is too slow to deal with his driving game and Ariza is too slim to guard him on post-ups. Only Mbah a Moute is capable of slowing him down somewhat and forcing him to use his mid-range excellence, but he hasn't generated enough offense in the limited minutes that he's played in this postseason to warrant a guaranteed starting berth.

Mike D'Antoni is having a headache solving this very problem as you read this.