The Rockets won their opener against Dallas on Wednesday, playing at a much faster pace than last season, writes William Guillory of The Athletic. With the point guard Fred VanVleet returning to the court after missing the entire 2025/26 season, Houston repeatedly pushed the ball up the court, scoring 128 points, including 29 on the fast break, a total they accomplished just twice a year ago.
“We’ve got the talent. We’ve got the guys to make the plays. We’ve just got to get to our spots and run our thing.” said Jabari Smith Jr who took advantage of the increased scoring opportunities and scored 30 points. “When we do that, when we get into it fast, it looks good. It starts defensively with the end of the possession with a pick-and-roll and not having to run sets and plays. Just playing loose.”
There was also a turn in the 30-point night Kevin Durantwhose shots were much easier in the new attack. Guillory notes that Durant and Alperen Sengun ranked third and fourth in the league last season in attempts made in the final five seconds of the shot clock, but that should no longer be an issue with the emphasis on playing faster.
“All scorers want that light to get them going. Then when you get some ISOs, you feel good when you touch the ball.” Durant said. “When we play defense like that and we have good rebounds like that, we can all get out and go in transition. … I need to come out and run more. I need to come out and maybe get off the break more and get some 3s. I’m just trying to play a spread game and part of that is easy, fast breaks.”
There are more from Houston:
- VanVleet finished with six points and 11 assists in nearly 30 minutes and didn’t commit a single turnover, solving an issue that plagued the Rockets all last season and the playoffs, Guillory added. VanVleet was well thought out, both pushing the tempo and exploiting mismatches in the half-court offense. Free agent application Marcus Smart also provided a consistent impact, turning the ball over just once in 26 minutes. “It’s just his calming force. I’m one of those players who is often under pressure. I’m ready to go all the time. He comes out and decides the game.” Durant said of VanVleet. “There’s a time we just have to settle in, get the ball in our hands and make a good shot. Just having him around makes my life a lot easier.”
- The Rockets spent most of the game without Tara Easonwho received 2 flagrant fouls and an ejection in the first quarter for pushing PJ Washington behind (Link to video on Twitter from ClutchPoints). Udoka called it “a little bit of a push” and said he was surprised it was elevated from a routine foul, for Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle (subscriber link). The NBA downgraded his rating to Flagrant 1 on Thursday after a review (Link to Twitter).
- According to Houston, he made 21 possessions on Wednesday, which has been a focus throughout training camp Varun Shankar of the Houston Chronicle (subscription required). Although the Rockets ranked high in most defensive categories last season, they finished in the bottom 10 in scoring.
