Rockets revival? How Houston hopes to boost its contender status in the West

Eight thousand miles from home, sandwiched between the game’s boisterous globalization and the ho-hum nature of preseason basketball, evolution and transformation are afoot. 

In front of 15,000 fans at Macao’s Venetian Arena in early October, Fred VanVleet, moving rather spry for a 32-year-old coming off an ACL tear, draws two defenders before kicking out to Alperen Şengün for a wing 3 — it misses. Jabari Smith Jr. corrals the offensive rebound and dishes to Kevin Durant, who draws bodies as he charges toward the paint and relinquishes it for an open VanVleet triple — it misses. Seconds later, Amen Thompson tips another offensive rebound to Smith, who darts toward the restricted area before finding VanVleet in the corner. 

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Splash. 

Truth be told, the Rockets’ exhibition game against the Mavericks is meaningless. Most, if not all, participants are hoping to avoid injury, put on a show for the fans and ramp up conditioning with the main event less than two weeks away. Between the lines, however, a different story is being told. 

“It’s been fun,” VanVleet told Yahoo Sports. “We didn’t get a chance to do it last year — this is what it was supposed to look like before. Coach laid out the philosophy of what we want to do, and we’ve done a heck of a job, better than I expected, in terms of our intention. Our execution hasn’t been perfect, but our intention has been really, really good.”

(Joseph Raines/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

After two consecutive first-round postseason exits, head coach Ime Udoka was forced this offseason to evaluate his three years at the helm. And while his team’s lowly performances weren’t entirely his fault — injuries and a lack of playoff experience certainly played a part in losses to veteran Warriors and Lakers teams — he was responsible for the overarching structure.

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That framework had morphed Houston into a respected, physical defensive unit, but it was still mundane, archaic and sluggish at the other end of the floor. Last season’s aggressive acquisition of Durant (who would miss the majority of Houston’s first-round playoff loss due to injuries) only…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/rockets-revival-how-houston-hopes-to-boost-its-contender-status-in-the-west-151103307.html

Author : Kelly Iko

Publish date : 2026-10-23 15:11:00

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