Kevin Durant Thrives in Houston Rockets’ Debut

Even more, with the former league MVP is one of the greatest scorers of all time, his simply being on-court took pressure off his teammates. The Rockets’ offense looked near-unguardable in the first half, as they went for 67 points with plenty of variety. Rising wing Amen Thompson led the way with 19 points, followed by Jabari Smith Jr. and Alperen Sengun with 11 each. Durant finished close on their heels with eight first-half points.

While Durant largely functioned as a jump-shooter — something he’s hung his hat on his entire career — he did see one voracious slam.

Houston shared the wealth in the first half, issuing 17 assists on 27 made field goals. Sengun was especially good distributing in Fred VanVleet’s absence, adding nine himself. The Turkish big man ran several actions with Durant, screening and working off the longtime-superstar. 

Out of the half, Durant looked fully settled in, immediately ripping off several of the team's first points of the frame. He was a large part of Sengun amassing a game-high 13 assists.

Even better, Houston didn’t seem to miss a step defensively with Durant on the court, playing multiple double-big lineups or rolling with multiple two-way forwards.

All in all, it was a mightily successful debut for Durant, who seemed mightily comfortable within the Rockets system. There will of course be time for the core to grow further chemistry wise, but the trio of Durant-Sengun-Thompson was able to make a huge impact in their first-ever game.

There will be tougher covers than the Jazz, but the Rockets clearly looked as advertised with Durant on-court.

The Rockets next take on New Orleans on Tuesday, Oct. 14. They’ll then face Atlanta again to finish off preseason, before opening up the regular season with a matchup against the defending champion OKC Thunder on Oct. 21.