Take a bird’s eye view of the Rockets season and you might think third in the West, 22-8 home record, 6-4 over a tough 10-game stretch. Those are all valid, but look a little closer and you’ll see the fraying edges of a team with some legitimate issues as we head down the home stretch of the NBA season.
The irony is that they have gotten everything they could have wanted and more from superstar Kevin Durant. After trading for the 37-year-old veteran, there were questions whether he could stay healthy and produce at a continued high level. Check and check.
Unfortunately, even with Durant, who is about to pass Michael Jordan for career points scored, the Rockets have issues and not all of them are fixable this season.
Offensive Roster Imbalance
Out of the gate, it seemed like this Rockets team could wreak havoc, its roster packed with defenders with length and athleticism. While that has been true at times, the reality is that there are combinations they simply cannot play together for long stretches, and they are often just overmatched offensively. Yes, they have some thoroughbreds, but they rank 21st in fast break points.
They turn the ball over way too often and have very few consistent shooters. Actually, they only have one: Durant. Over the length of a season, those offensive deficiencies start to become glaring and even have a deleterious effect on a team’s defense.
Turnovers
Last year, the Rockets were one of the most reliable ball handling squads in the NBA. This year, only two teams, Brooklyn and Portland, are worse. Some of this (much of it?) can be laid at the feet of the injured Fred VanVleet who was Ime Udoka’s coach on the floor last season. Also, the fact that their best option at point guard beyond FVV has been Amen Thompson, who is clearly not a full-time NBA point, and a still young Reed Sheppard.
Still, this is a team that could mitigate such errors with better decision making and they just don’t seem to have that on most nights and against good teams. If there is one stat that can sum up wins and losses for this team, it’s turnovers. When they turn the ball over a lot, they are just not competitive. And they turn it over too often.
No Elite Skills
You could argue that in the 2024-25 season, this was an elite team in a couple of categories. They were near the top of the league in turnovers and defense. And they were absolutely dominant — like, historically so — on the glass. While they remain very very good at rebounding the ball, the loss of Steven Adams has cost them on the offensive glass, something they rely upon for second chance opportunities given their generally poor shooting.
Defensively, they have clearly slipped and even a more efficient Durant isn’t enough to overcome their glaring weaknesses on the offensive end of the floor when the defense isn’t clicking. The best teams in the NBA are elite in at least one category, probably two or three. The Rockets can’t lay claim to any right now.
Over Reliance on Durant
There is absolutely no reason Kevin Durant, at 37, should be third in the NBA in minutes per game. Thompson is second and that makes some sense given the importance of his role with the team, but the Rockets offense is so bad without Durant on the floor, they haven’t had much choice. It hasn’t resulted in injury for Durant, which is fortunate for the Rockets, but it’s not great to have your best player, who also happens to be closer to 40 than 30, close to the league lead in minutes.