The Rockets Report
Team struggles without Harden, losing two games in a week
Jan 8, 2018, 1:26 pm
Gerald Green has been a nice signing. Rockets.com
The Rockets spent the past week adjusting to life without James Harden on the court, and there were some growing pains in the process. The adjusted roster has featured an emphasis on riding recently acquired swingman Gerald Green’s hot streak as the sixth man, as well as extended playing time for point guard Briante Weber. The transition has been less than seamless, as the Rockets dropped two out of three this past week. Houston’s overall record has them fourth overall in the league now, and while they remain second the western conference, the gap is narrowing.
Game 36: Rockets at Orlando Magic (W, 116-98)
If there was ever a team to face immediately after losing the highest scoring in the league, it would be the Magic. The Rockets tinkered with their lineup and cruised to an easy victory behind strong defense on their end and abysmal shooting on the Magic’s. More on this game can be found here.
Game 37: Rockets vs Golden State (L, 114-124)
When you play the Golden State Warriors these days, there is no room for error. A glimmer of hope was shed on the Rockets with the news that Kevin Durant would not be playing due to injury heading into the contest. The game lived up to its nationally televised billing as the two western conference heavyweights refused to give either pull away with any significant lead. At the half the Rockets led the Warriors 63-63, with Eric Gordon pacing the Rockets with 17 points. The game would remain tight until around three and a half minutes remaining, when a series of miscues and poor shots allowed a dialed in Golden State team to finally pull away. Gordon would finish with 30 points, and Gerald Green would sink a career-high 8 three-pointers on his way to 29 points off the bench. Chris Paul added 28 points, 9 assists, and 7 rebounds.
Game 38: Rockets at Detroit Pistons (L, 101-108)
The Rockets traveled to Detroit Saturday night looking to shake off a tough loss to Golden State, but the Pistons--even without star center Andre Drummond--apparently had other plans. It was another close game throughout, but sloppy play in the third turned a 58-57 lead at the half into a 77-88 deficit heading into the fourth. The Rockets would be unable to recover and would eventually drop their second game in a row. No Houston player broke the 20-point barrier that night. Paul led the team with 16 points, 13 assists, and 7 rebounds. Gordon, Green, and Trevor Ariza added 15 each.
Takeaways:
Picking up the slack: Gerald Green has been absolutely electric in Harden’s absence, while Ryan Anderson has been quite the opposite. Green is now averaging 16.5 points per game off the bench thanks largely in part to his .510 three-point percentage since he signed with Houston six games ago. Anderson however has shot 8-34 from beyond the arc for an unremarkable .235 percentage in that same span. The Rockets need everyone dialed in in order to maintain momentum with Harden out.
Looking ahead:
The Rockets will have a three game work week beginning tonight in Chicago with a matchup against a rebuilding Bulls team. Wednesday they’ll host a pesky Portland team and Friday they’ll finish the week in Phoenix versus the Suns. Tonight’s matchup shouldn’t pose an issue, even as the Rockets look to further acclimate to the new rotation. The Trail Blazers, as I’ve said before, are never a team you can sleep on and should be a tough matchup, while the Phoenix game can be viewed as quite the opposite. I see the Rockets bouncing back this week with only one likely loss and the possibility to go undefeated.
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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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