The Houston Rockets need to be able to win big games without Kevin Durant. Against the Suns on Monday night, that's exactly what they did.
This is important in both a short and long-term sense. In each case, the reason is the same:
Durant is 37.
The Rockets can assume he'll miss games this year. On Monday, Durant was out for personal reasons - here's hoping everything is OK. Still, it's overwhelmingly likely that he'll need some time off throughout the year to preserve his body.
It's also inevitable that Durant will eventually retire. The Rockets acquired Durant as a stopgap.