The Rockets Are A Dream For Kevin Durant

After two straight losses to begin the season, the Houston Rockets are finally beginning to look like how the front office hoped they would when they acquired Kevin Durant in a trade.

The offense is flowing easily, shots are falling efficiently, and the defense is finally starting to climb to the level Houston has grown accustomed to since the arrival of Head Coach Ime Udoka. Durant's addition to a team that already had an established structure and identity has been seamless, and the partnership between Durant and the Rockets may have given Durant his best team and shot to win in years.

The team construction for this year's Rockets is more well-rounded than Durant's previous two teams.

Durant has played with far superior top-end talent, joining the likes of Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal. Each of these players joined Durant after establishing themselves as players, becoming some of the top players at their respective positions.

However, for one reason or another, these teams failed to be competitive once the postseason began. Durant has won one postseason series since winning two straight championships with the Golden State Warriors. He has been on talented squads, but his personal performance hasn't culminated in winning at a high level due to holes elsewhere on the roster.

The one whole NBA followers could have said about the Rockets before the season was a perceived lack of shooting, and a lack of creation after Fred VanVleet's injury.

At least in the early part of the season, both of these concerns have been addressed and improved. Several players came in shooting at a high level; Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson have helped with the playmaking and creation for the team as well.

While the team may not continue to be as hot from three-point range the entire season, they still have diverse skill sets offensively to create open shots, whether they're falling or not.

The main difficulty for prior Rockets teams was creating and converting open shots from deep range. Now, they have the personnel to knock down those shots at a higher rate, which is in turn creating more opportunities for open shots.

The defense has taken a few games to get revved up this season, but the top side potential for the defense would be one of the best Durant has been on since he was with the Warriors.

The Warriors were clearly a tier above even some historic NBA teams, but the balance found with the Rockets is similar in having both an elite offense and defense.

This year's Rockets and Kevin Durant are a match made in heaven, and Durant is looking to take full advantage of a competitive team in a competitive conference race.