James Harden averaged 37 points per game last week. Houston Rockets/Facebook
Another week into the season and the Houston Rockets continued to remain an undefinable enigma. After finishing winless against teams with losing records two weeks ago, the Rockets followed that up with an undefeated week against quality playoff level competition. The three-game win streak returned Houston to an even .500 record at 14-14. Houston remains last in the Southwest Division, but have moved up to 12th in the Western Conference overall.
Tuesday night Houston hosted the Trail Blazers looking to make up for the blowout loss Portland handed them earlier in the season. Portland jumped out early, leading by as much as 12 in the first quarter, but Houston would close the gap to keep the game close through the half. It remained a back and forth match until Houston's bench ignited a 25-5 run near the end of the third to effectively put the game away. James Harden led the Rockets with 29 points, and--despite an awful shooting night--Chris Paul ended the night with an 11 point, 10 assistance, 11 rebound triple-double.
Houston followed Tuesday night's much needed win with slug fest victory against LeBron James and the Lakers. In a battle that featured two of the games best players, Harden would come away the victor behind a 50-point, 11 assist, 10 rebound triple-double.
Saturday night Houston took on the Memphis Grizzlies in a quick road trip game. As the Rockets had begun to pick up steam it seemed like a matchup against the 16-12 Grizzlies would serve as stiff competition. The game itself was anything but, and a poor shooting first half from Memphis proved too difficult to recover from as Houston remained in command throughout. A late push from the Grizzlies would narrow what was at one point a 27-point lead, but Houston would hold on thanks to a 32 point, 10 assist, 12 rebound performance from Harden.
The Week of The Beard
In spite of Houston's overall record, Harden continues to perform at the same high level that earned him last season's MVP nod. Harden ended the week with two straight triple-doubles and his 50-point triple-double--the fourth such of his career--became a new NBA record. Harden finished the week averaging 37 points, 8.3 assists, and 7.6 rebounds during their current win streak.
Bench Bolstered
The past two weeks have seen several key players return from injury. Last week was center Nene, who stepped in and immediately contributed big minutes. Wednesday marked the debut of Brandon Knight, an offseason acquisition from Phoenix who had yet to play an NBA game since suffering an ACL injury on February 17, 2017. Prior to the injury, Knight was a capable scorer, averaging 15.2 points and 4.3 assists over six seasons. The Rockets will bring him into the fold slowly, and if he can regain that scoring ability expect to see a healthy share of minutes headed Knight's way.
R-E-L-A-X
The sirens have been going off throughout Houston concerning the Rockets' sub .500 record up until last night. It's true that Houston is dead last in their division. They're 12th in the Western Conference. It doesn't sound great, but luckily parity has been the theme of the season. As a result, the Rockets are only 1.5 games back in the division and 5 games out of first place in the conference. No one likes to see losses, but rest assured that the Rockets are far from out of it.
Looking ahead
Houston opens the week before Christmas with a Monday matchup at home against the Jazz, followed by a Wednesday game hosting the Wizards. They'll face a quick turnaround with an away game at Miami before returning home to take on the Spurs on Saturday.
The Jazz have yet to lose against the Rockets in two contests this season, and the Wizards defeated Houston in their only contest so far as well. Thursday will be the Rocket's first look against a struggling Heat team, and Saturday will serve as a rubber match in the I-10 battle against the Spurs. The past two weeks have left me 0-6 in calling weeks, but I'll try to do my best Rockets impression and rebound. I'm calling a 3-1 week.
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Astros keep doing this, and it’s getting hard to ignore
Jun 25, 2025, 10:01 pm
While the rolling Astros have a week of possible World Series preview matchups against the Phillies and Cubs, it’s the Rockets who made the biggest local sports headline with their acquisition of Kevin Durant. What a move! Of course there is risk involved in trading for a guy soon to turn 37 years old and who carries an injury history, but balancing risk vs. reward is a part of the game. This is a fabulous move for the Rockets. It’s understood that there are dissenters to this view. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, including people with the wrong opinion! Let’s dig in.
The Rockets had a wonderful season in winning 52 games before their disappointing first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, but like everyone else in the Western Conference, they were nowhere close to Oklahoma City’s caliber. While they finished second in the West, the Rockets only finished four games ahead of the play-in. That letting the stew simmer with further growth among their young players would yield true championship contention was no given for 2025-26 or beyond.
Kevin Durant is one of the 10 greatest offensive players the NBA has ever seen. Among his current contemporaries only Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic make that list. For instance, Durant offensively has clearly been better than the late and legendary Kobe Bryant. To view it from a Houston perspective, Durant has been an indisputably greater offensive force than the amazing Hakeem Olajuwon. But this is not a nostalgia trip in which the Rockets are trading for a guy based on what he used to be. While Durant could hit the wall at any point, living in fear that it’s about to happen is no way to live because KD, approaching his 18th NBA season, is still an elite offensive player.
As to the durability concern, Durant played more games (62) this past season than did Fred VanVleet, Jabari Smith, and Tari Eason. The season before he played more games (75) than did VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, and Alperen Sengun. In each of the last two seasons Durant averaged more minutes per game (36.9) than any Rocket. That was stupid and/or desperate of the Suns, the Rockets will be smarter. Not that the workload eroded Durant’s production or efficiency. Over the two seasons he averaged almost 27 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the floor, 42 percent from behind the three-point line, and 85 percent from the free throw line. Awesomeness. The Rockets made the leap to being a very good team despite a frankly crummy half-court offense. The Rockets ranked 21st among the 30 NBA teams in three-point percentage, and dead last in free throw percentage. Amen Thompson has an array of skills and looks poised to be a unique star. Alas, Thompson has no credible jump shot. VanVleet is not a creator, Smith has limited handle. Adding Durant directly addresses the Rockets’ most glaring weakness.
The price the Rockets paid was in the big picture, minimal, unless you think Jalen Green is going to become a bonafide star. Green is still just 23 years old and spectacular athletically, but nothing he has done over four pro seasons suggests he’s on the cusp of greatness. In no season has Green even shot the league average from the floor or from three. His defense has never been as good as it should be given his athleticism. Compared to some other two-guards who made the NBA move one year removed from high school, four seasons into his career Green is waaaaaay behind where Shae Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Devin Booker were four seasons in, and now well behind his draft classmate Cade Cunningham. Dillon Brooks was a solid pro in two seasons here and shot a career-best from three in 2024-2025, but he’s being replaced by Kevin Durant! In terms of the draft pick capital sent to Phoenix, five second round picks are essentially meaningless. The Rockets have multiple extra first round picks in the coming years. As for the sole first-rounder dealt away, whichever player the Rockets would have taken 10th Wednesday night would have been rather unlikely to crack the playing rotation.
VanVleet signs extension
Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a two-year, 50 million dollar guarantee is sensible. In a vacuum, VanVleet was substantially overpaid at the over 40 mil he made per season the last two. He’s a middle-of-the-pack starting point guard. But his professionalism and headiness brought major value to the Rockets’ kiddie corps while their payroll was otherwise very low. Ideally, Reed Sheppard makes a leap to look like an NBA lead guard in his second season, after a pretty much zippo of a rookie campaign. Sheppard is supposed to be a lights-out shooter. For the Rockets to max out, they need two sharpshooters on the court to balance Thompson’s presence.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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