Houston’s supersized approach lifts offense to NBA’s top tier
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HOUSTON — Four months after losing veteran point guard Fred VanVleet to a season-ending knee injury, the Houston Rockets own the league’s No. 3 offensive rating (118.9) by leaning on size, rebounding and a scoring tandem of Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun.
Durant, Sengun drive methodical attack
Head coach Ime Udoka has slowed the game to the NBA’s 28th-ranked pace, funneling playmaking through the 6-foot-11 Durant and the equally tall Sengun. On Jan. 16 at Toyota Center, the duo combined to generate 77 points in a 110-105 win over Minnesota. Durant, 37, poured in a season-high 39 on 11-of-18 shooting and became the second-oldest Rocket to reach at least 39 points, trailing only Clyde Drexler’s 43 in 1997. Sengun added 25 points and 14 rebounds before fouling out, marking his ninth 25-and-10 performance this season.
The victory followed a 20-point defeat to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder one night earlier. That loss capped the worst seven-game three-point stretch in league history (58-for-236, per ESPN Research) and dropped Houston to five defeats in seven outings. Despite the skid, Udoka insisted his blueprint would hold.
Big bodies, bigger boards
Houston first tested oversized lineups last year, finishing the 2024-25 campaign atop the NBA in offensive rebounds (14.6) and second-chance points (18.1) while posting a 52-30 record. The club “tripled down,” in Udoka’s words, by acquiring Durant from Phoenix in July in a seven-team deal that sent Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks elsewhere.
The most-used lineup — Durant, Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr., Josh Okogie and Amen Thompson — averages nearly 6-foot-9. When Steven Adams joins Durant, Sengun and Smith, four of the five Rockets on court stand 6-11, with the 6-7 Thompson handling the ball.
“You want to double Alpi and leave KD open? Double KD and leave me, Jabari and Reed on the backside?” Thompson said. “He’s an extra threat for sure.”
Youth at the point
With VanVleet sidelined, Udoka has resisted seeking outside help. Houston sits $1.25 million below the first tax apron and, according to the coach, has not discussed deadline additions. Instead, the staff is developing Thompson and second-year guard Reed Sheppard.
Against San Antonio on Tuesday, Sheppard scored a team-best 21 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, to erase a 16-point deficit and topple the conference’s second-place Spurs. He even earned praise after air-balling a 33-footer. “I love that shot,” Udoka told him during the ensuing timeout. “It shows his confidence.”
Limited threes, high efficiency
The Rockets attempt just 30.7 threes per game (29th) and sit 25th in makes (11.3), yet they rank sixth in percentage (37.0). Durant (39.5%), Sheppard (40.9%), Okogie (38.1%) and Tari Eason (46.1%) convert at a strong clip, while only 29.1% of Houston’s points come from beyond the arc.
Baskets inside remain critical: 45.6% of the club’s scoring originates in the paint, seventh-best leaguewide. That interior production faces a test after Adams suffered a severely sprained ankle Sunday against New Orleans. He is out indefinitely, pushing Clint Capela into the primary backup role behind Sengun and prompting Smith to log minutes at center in certain alignments.
Holding firm in the West
At 4th place in the Western Conference, Houston seeks to surpass last spring’s seven-game, first-round exit to Golden State. Jazz coach Will Hardy, a former colleague of Udoka’s under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio and later in Boston, views the Rockets’ bruising identity as sustainable.
“That’s how they’ve played since he got there,” Hardy said. “I don’t see why it wouldn’t be sustainable. You can’t bail on your team’s identity.”
Houston will try to validate that belief as Thompson and Sheppard continue their crash course at point guard and Durant anchors an offense built on size, patience and second-chance opportunities.
Source: ESPN
