Another milestone achieved! Durant is just 17 points away from surpassing Dirk Nowitzki: This season, he still has a chance to pass Jordan.

On January 19th Beijing time, the Rockets faced the Pelicans at home, with Rockets star Kevin Durant close to unlocking another milestone. Durant’s career regular-season points total is now 31,544, requiring just 17 additional points to surpass Mavericks great Dirk Nowitzki (31,560 points) and claim the sixth spot on the NBA’s all-time scoring leaderboard.

In his first season with the Rockets, Durant has already surpassed another legendary player in scoring. Earlier this month, during an away game loss to the Trail Blazers, he passed Wilt Chamberlain on the all-time scoring list, moving into seventh place. Durant still trails fifth-ranked Michael Jordan (32,292 points) by over 700 points, but given his current scoring pace, he has a strong chance to surpass Jordan this season.

In today’s game against the Pelicans, Durant is highly likely to score at least 17 points. In the 37 games he has played for the Rockets this season, Durant has scored fewer than 17 points in only 3 contests. Conversely, he has posted 30 or more points in 14 games, including the first matchup this season between the Rockets and Pelicans, where he scored 32 points in an overtime loss.

Recently, Durant’s high-scoring performances have become more frequent. January has been his most efficient scoring month this season; in 9 games played, he has averaged 28.7 points per game with a shooting percentage of 50%, and in all these 9 games, he scored more than 17 points.

However, the Rockets as a whole have struggled in January. Since the start of 2026, the team’s record is just 4 wins and 5 losses, including a rough stretch of 1 win and 4 losses. All four of those defeats came against teams with winning percentages below 50%. This slump has left the Rockets with an overall season record of 24 wins and 15 losses, currently placing them fifth in the Western Conference.

Even so, the Pelicans are in an even tougher spot. They hold a league-worst record of 10 wins and 34 losses, winning only 2 of their last 14 games.

Although the Pelicans have forwards Zion and Murphy, both averaging 22 points per game, their poor defense often undermines their offensive output. The Pelicans allow over 122 points per game (28th in the league) and concede nearly 15 three-pointers per game (29th in the league).