The Rockets have spent the first week of the 2026-2027 NBA season making a strong case that they belong near the very top. Houston sits at 3-0 and leads the Western Conference standings, while NBA.com’s John Schuhmann placed the team No. 4 in the latest power rankings.
Schuhmann pointed to the way Houston handled its opening stretch.
“No team had a more impressive Week 1 than the Rockets. They clobbered the Mavs, edged the Spurs and beat the 2-0 Hawks on the road. We may have already seen the defensive play of the year, with Amen Thompson blocking Victor Wembanyama’s layup in the final seconds on Friday.”
Only three teams were listed ahead of Houston: the Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and Oklahoma City Thunder. All three finished Week 1 unbeaten.
The Rockets’ early surge has been fueled by balance on offense. Kevin Durant, Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, and Jabari Smith Jr. are each scoring more than 16.0 points per game, and Fred VanVleet, Reed Sheppard, and Tari Eason are all contributing in double figures as well.
VanVleet has been one of the bigger storylines for Houston entering the season after missing 2025-2026 with an ACL injury. He is averaging 10.0 points per game, but his biggest impact has come as a distributor. VanVleet is also posting a team-high 8.0 assists per game, and his passing has set up several key plays.
Houston’s schedule gives it a real shot to keep the momentum rolling. The Rockets are set to face the Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks, and Dallas Mavericks next, and there is a strong possibility they can push their winning streak to six. Their wins over Atlanta and Dallas last week were described as relatively secure.
The toughest test in that stretch looks to be Oklahoma City. The Thunder, who already own wins over the Spurs, Denver Nuggets, and Los Angeles Clippers, lost Jalen Williams to a significant leg injury on Sunday night and expect him to be out for an extended period. Even with that setback, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is still producing at an MVP-caliber level, and the Thunder’s group continues to mesh.
If Houston gets through its next four games with more wins, it could start to look like the top team in the Western Conference. And depending on how the rest of the league shakes out this week, the Rockets may be in position to climb even higher in the next power rankings.
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Rockets Rematch Gets More Interesting If One Veteran Guard Returns
The Rockets have opened the season 3-0, and they already handled Atlanta once even without Marcus Smart and Fred VanVleet in the backcourt. That win gave Houston an early chance to show its depth, but it also left room to wonder how different the matchup could look once the veteran guards are actually available.
Smart is now listed as questionable for the rematch because of a forearm injury, which adds a layer of uncertainty to a game that already carries a little extra edge. Kevin Durant has already pointed to the value Smart and VanVleet bring to Houston's backcourt, so the next question is whether the Rockets will get one of them back in time to make this meeting look more like the version they had in mind. [Read more 🡒]
Amen Thompson Is Giving The Rockets A New Reason To Believe
Houstons hot start has come with the usual early-season caveats, but Amen Thompson is giving the Rockets something more tangible to hang onto. The 3-0 record has them atop the Western Conference, and the latest win, a 114-110 escape against San Antonio, offered a glimpse of why the front office felt comfortable locking him up on a five-year extension.
Thompsons value is showing up in the little things as much as the highlight plays, including career-best rebounding numbers that fit the physical edge Houston wants to build around. The closing sequence against the Spurs only sharpened the sense that he is becoming a central piece of this group, and it also added another layer to the growing buzz around his early-season impact. [Read more 🡒]