The Houston Rockets have looked like a different team this season, and that’s not automatically a bad thing.
In 2025-26, they played like a team that wanted to win every possession by force. The offense was raw, physical and built around pressure.
This year, the picture is cleaner. The Rockets have been more disciplined, more sophisticated and, by the numbers, better overall.
But there’s still a missing edge - the kind that shows up when a game gets messy and the easy stuff disappears.
That tension showed up in their last game. The old version of the offense popped back up, and it wasn’t pretty.
The floor got crowded. Alperen Sengun was left settling for floaters he’s never really had much success with, in part because the cuts from Amen Thompson weren’t there.
The offense stalled out.
Even then, the Rockets still had a path to victory if they had simply owned the glass against the Suns.
That’s the bigger issue. Houston can’t count on pretty offense every night because it doesn’t have the kind of superstar who can carry a broken possession and turn it into points anyway. Sengun isn’t that player, Thompson isn’t close, and Kevin Durant is being used in a way that fits both development and the need to keep him fresh for the playoffs.
So what made the Rockets dangerous last season? They overwhelmed teams physically.
They were first in Offensive Rebounding % by a wide margin. This season, they’re fourth at 36.0%.
They’re also fifth in overall Rebounding % at 52.5%, after leading the league there a year ago.
That’s still strong. It just may not be enough for a team with championship aspirations.
If Houston wants to seriously contend, being good on the boards won’t cut it. It has to be the best.
The same idea applies on defense. The Rockets’ 109.4 Defensive Rating ranks 10th in the NBA, down from sixth last season, when they posted a 112.1 mark. The current number is actually better, but the ranking tells the more useful story: relative to the rest of the league, they’re not sitting at the same level.
Offensively, though, this is a better team. Houston’s 118.6 Offensive Rating is second-best in the NBA.
That’s why one game shouldn’t be overread. But against the Suns, it was easy to see some regression coming.
If that happens, the Rockets need the other parts of their identity to hold firm. They need the rebounding.
They need the defense. And if Steven Adams can’t stay on the floor, they need a backup five who can crash the glass and do it better than anyone else they can get.
The Rockets don’t need to go back to exactly what they were last season. They need to find the version of themselves that can blend the old force with the new structure.
In Other News...
Rockets Early Identity Is Clear But One Weak Spot Could Matter
Through 10 games, the Rockets have looked much like the version they hoped to be, sitting tied for fifth in the Western Conference and getting steady production from Kevin Durant, Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson. The early returns have also reflected the teams defensive identity, with Houston ranking 10th in defensive rating and second in defending the three-point line, a strong foundation for a group trying to establish itself in the West.
The concern is what happens when opponents get inside the arc. Houston has not been as sharp protecting the rim or limiting overall field goal percentage, and the issue has been made more noticeable by the absence of veteran depth in the frontcourt. Steven Adams is sidelined with a calf injury, Clint Capela is out with an ankle issue, and the Rockets are suddenly thinner behind their main bigs than they would like this early in the season. [Read more 🡒]
Kevin Durant Faces One Rockets Question That Could Define Their Ceiling
Kevin Durants first meeting with the Suns in a Rockets uniform offered a quick reminder of how much his shot diet can shape Houstons offense. He still got to 21 points, but the night was defined less by volume than by where those looks came from, with the Rockets leaning on a scorer who spent most of his time working from the perimeter and the midrange instead of forcing the issue at the basket.
For Houston, that matters because the ceiling of this group is tied to how often Durant can bend a defense in the paint and create easier answers for everyone else. When his touches turn into tougher jumpers, the offense can flatten out, and the Rockets lose some of the pressure that makes their attack dangerous. The question now is whether they can get him into more rim attacks and turn those possessions into something more efficient for both Durant and the team around him. [Read more 🡒]
Rockets Fans Just Got Another Reminder Of Sam Cassells Respect Around NBA
Sam Cassells name keeps surfacing in the kind of conversations that usually come with a head coaching job, even if he still does not have one. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott recently called attention to Cassells rsum, pointing to his championship pedigree as both a player and an assistant coach, including his role in Bostons 2024 title run, and framing the longtime NBA veteran as someone whose experience should have already translated into a top job.
For Rockets fans, the renewed discussion is another reminder of how widely Cassell is respected around the league and how long his coaching path has stayed just out of reach. Scott also tied Cassells situation to a broader pattern of Black coaches being passed over for head coaching opportunities, a point that only adds more weight to the fact that Cassell has continued to draw praise without yet landing the kind of opening many around the league believe he has earned. [Read more 🡒]