The Houston Rockets were concern and for good reason when the news came down about Fred VanVleet potential season ending injury that he suffered right before training camp. For two season VanVleet was the Rockets rock at point guard controlling the ball on the offensive end of the court.
Since joining the Rockets, VanVleet has helped the team go from the worst in the league in turnovers to a franchise best in his first season. After trading away Jalen Green to the Phoenix Suns as part of the Kevin Durant deal, the Rockets knew they would be shorthanded in the backcourt.
With VanVleet injured, the Rockets were down to Amen Thompson, Aaron Holiday, and Reed Sheppard as their only ball handlers. Thompson hadn’t been a full-time point guard since coming into the NBA. Sheppard is only in his second season, and Holiday is seen as more of an end-of-the-bench type of player most nights.
Many in the NBA world thought the Rockets would struggle to get their offense going most nights without a playmaker in the backcourt. It seemed that critics might have been right after the Rockets struggled to find any offensive flow in their first two games, both of which resulted in losses.
Since that loss to the Pistons the Rockets have done a 180 on the offensive end as they have risen to the top of the league in offensive rating. After another dominate win this time in Boston against the Celtics the Rockets have scored over 120 points in each of three games all wins.
The Rockets in fact have been so dominant on the offensive end the last three games that they have led two of the three games by at least 30 points. The Rockets have done this by increasing their pace after changing their starting lineup and also much better ball movement.
After a short feeling-out period as he got used to being on the court with his new teammates, Durant has been everything the Rockets were hoping he would be and more. In their last win over the Toronto Raptors, Durant dominated in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 points and helping close out the Raptors.
Sengun has been the primary playmaker, expanding his role as the offensive hub. Sengun dissected the Celtics all night in the Rockets’ win, finishing with nine assists. Thompson hasn’t been asked to do too much as a playmaker, but has done a better job of pushing the pace, especially on the fast break.
The Rockets have made it a point that no one player will be the full time point guard and it will be by comitee all season. Their league leading offensive rating has proven that so far that plan is working to perfection.