To be honest, as someone who didn’t watch every Houston Rockets game before starting this job, I was skeptical that so much of the team’s offensive issues could be solved by Fred VanVleet’s return.
It felt like the Rockets were placing a lot of faith in a 32-year-old one-time All-Star coming off a serious ACL injury.
Friday morning’s preseason opener in Macau — VanVleet’s first NBA action in more than 500 days — was an early data point to see how the healthy, revamped Rockets would look.
Preseason is just preseason, and the Dallas Mavericks didn’t play everyone (and might not be that good when they do), so my skepticism remains, especially when comparing the Rockets to the top of the Western Conference. But it dropped considerably after the 135-117 Houston win.
It wasn’t just VanVleet’s individual performance across 24 minutes — 17 points and 7 assists on 5-for-12 shooting, all triples — but also how much smoother Houston’s operation looked all around. The Rockets shot 54.7% from the field and 50% from 3-point range, but the number that stands out the most: 36 assists on 47 made shots.
That’s better than all but two Houston performances from last season — and consider that Friday’s figure includes bench minutes
Houston got into its actions faster and possessions flowed smoothly, with passing lanes and open shots available to all. A simple play that illustrates VanVleet’s value: The Rockets cleared out one side of the floor to set up a post-up opportunity for Kevin Durant. Last season, getting that pass to the superstar forward was often an ordeal, with him or Alperen Şengün in similar situations getting pushed out to the perimeter before receiving the ball.
Against the Mavericks, VanVleet made the play — and many others — look easy.