Several Rockets Are Exceeding Expectations To Start The Year

The Houston Rockets came into this season with some strong hunches for their team. They believed Alperen Sengun would take a superstar leap, and that the pairing with Kevin Durant would lead to significant levels of success on the offensive end. They also expected that Amen Thompson would return as the team's best defender, leading a talented squad on that end of the floor.

What Houston didn't expect, is how well the team would perform on offense and from the three-point line. The Rockets hoped the addition of Durant would improve the team's shooting numbers, but they never could have predicted the team being the No. 1 shooting team after ten games.

Durant on his own would not be able to have the Rockets at such an efficient percentage. Several players have exceeded expectations from deep to start the season.

Sengun is one of them, now shooting over 40 percent from three-point range, one of five players in the regular rotation shooting over that mark.

The Turkish big man was always known as an offensive force, but his reputation came from his talent in the paint. Stretching defenses out to the three-point line on around three attempts per game has unlocked the paint and post areas for his other talented teammates.

Houston had high expectations for Reed Sheppard, so he may not be overly exceeding what the team believes he'll become. However, with his current role as a bench guard and a secondary ball handler, he has already improved significantly throughout the season.

Sheppard is shooting an unfathomable 50 percent from beyond the three-point line, which is one of the league's best percentages. His top shooting has been a huge benefit for the team's top players; they can pass to him as a release valve if their drive to the paint stalls. Knocking down shots at such a high level is a huge boost to the team's offense.

While Sheppard is shooting a ridiculous percentage from three, he doesn't have the team's highest mark for shooting.

That honor belongs to Tari Eason, who is having his most efficient season so far with how he has started the year.

Eason is one of the three best shooters in the league so far with a 53 percent mark from deep range. This was an entirely unexpected development that the Rockets are hoping continues throughout the season, even if it's not necessarily at such a high percentage the whole year.

Not only is he shooting at an elite rate, but Eason is also still crashing the glass at a high level. He, along with Thompson, Steven Adams, and Jabari Smith Jr. are still owning offensive boards after misses, helping the Rockets become the league's best offensive rebounding team.

The Rockets had high expectations coming into the season, and there were still some individuals who have exceeded those expectations in the early part of the year.