The Houston Rockets are at a crossroads - and they know it.
Team broadcaster Craig Ackerman summed it up best this week when he said the Rockets haven’t been playing “Rocket basketball.” The problem? No one’s quite sure what that means anymore.
Last season, the answer was simple. With no clear superstar on the roster, the Rockets leaned into the identity of their head coach, Ime Udoka: defense-first, gritty, and disciplined.
That approach didn’t just give them a fighting chance - it propelled them to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. They were tough, relentless, and hard to play against.
But the offseason changed everything.
The blockbuster trade for Kevin Durant brought undeniable star power to Houston - and sent away one of their defensive anchors in Dillon Brooks. Then Fred VanVleet’s injury took another bite out of the team’s defensive backbone. Just like that, the Rockets' calling card began to fade.
What they found in return, however, was a new identity - or at least the beginnings of one. With Durant at the center of the offense, Houston shifted its focus from defense to firepower.
And for a while, it worked. Over the first couple of months, the Rockets were one of the most efficient offensive teams in the league.
Durant was doing what he does best - scoring at will, drawing attention, and creating space for others.
But as the offense soared, the defense plummeted. In December, the Rockets dropped to 23rd in defensive rating - a steep fall from the top-five mark they posted last season. And when the offense hit a cold stretch, Houston was left without a safety net.
They went five straight games without cracking 106 points - losing four of those - and it was clear: when the offense sputters, there’s no Plan B. That’s the danger of becoming a one-dimensional team.
The Rockets also doubled down on a double-big look this offseason, extending Steven Adams and pairing him with Alperen Sengun in the starting lineup to begin the year. But the results have been mixed.
The lineup that once looked promising has now been scaled back significantly. Through 37 games, Adams and Sengun have shared the floor in only 23 of them, averaging just 13 minutes together when they do.
Among all Adams pairings, his minutes with Sengun rank just fifth in usage.
Part of the shift came out of necessity. With VanVleet out, Houston tried running more of the offense through Sengun, who leads the team in assists.
But consistency has been elusive. Sengun’s usage rate has dipped in January - down to 25.9 after peaking at 29.1 in December - while Durant’s role has only grown.
The two now share the team lead in usage, but make no mistake: Durant is the focal point of this offense.
And when that offense isn’t clicking, the Rockets have looked lost.
In an effort to jumpstart things, Houston leaned harder into three-point shooting - a logical move for a team that entered January leading the league in three-point percentage. But volume didn’t translate to success.
As the attempts went up, the makes went down. The result?
The worst five-game stretch of three-point shooting in NBA history.
Jabari Smith Jr. was given an expanded role during that stretch, but he couldn’t find the bottom of the net either - missing 20 straight threes.
The identity crisis came to a head in Tuesday’s win over the Bulls. J.D.
Davison, who had barely seen the floor this season, logged a season-high 25 minutes. It was a clear sign that Udoka is still searching - mixing lineups, shifting rotations, and looking for something that sticks.
Now, nearly halfway through the season, the Rockets are still trying to figure out who they are. Are they a Durant-led offensive juggernaut?
A defensive-minded squad that needs to get back to its roots? A hybrid of both?
They don’t have much time to decide. Sitting just a half-game ahead of the seventh seed, Houston is staring down one of its biggest games of the season - a home showdown against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The clock’s ticking. The talent is there. But until the Rockets lock in on an identity, they’ll keep floating somewhere in between - not quite the team they were, and not yet the team they want to be.