Houston Rockets Continue to Have to Rely Heavily on Starters

Before the start of the 2025-26 season, the Houston Rockets realized that they would be shorthanded for most, if not all, of the season. Fred VanVleet suffered a major injury before training camp, which meant the Rockets would have to find someone to replace him in the starting lineup.

The Rockets also traded two starters during the offseason to bring in Kevin Durant. That meant, along with replacing VanVleet, they would have to replace a second starter because of the Durant deal.

The Rockets were hoping that the addition of Dorian Finney-Smith would make up for the loss of Dillon Brooks, but he has been dealing with the aftereffects of offseason ankle surgery all season and hasn't had much of an impact so far.

The Rockets have gone back and forth with their starting lineup, with Amen Thompson, Alperen Sengun, Kevin Durant, and Jabari Smith being the four who have started all season. The fifth spot has been a rotation of different players.

Everyone from Reed Sheppard to Tari Eason, Steven Adams, and Josh Okogie has filled the fifth starter spot. That meant a player who was originally slated to come off the bench has been in the starting lineup throughout the season.

The bench would suffer another blow as Adams suffered a season-ending injury in January. The one player who was providing a spark off the bench was Sheppard, but with Eason struggling for the better part of two months, the Rockets have decided to move Sheppard into the starting lineup.

That has made an already thin bench even thinner when it comes to production, especially as Eason's struggles have carried over into his bench role.

In their recent loss to the Chicago Bulls, their lack of scoring off the bench stood out even more, as the Bulls' second unit dominated the Rockets' reserves on the way to the win. A trend that has been happening all season long.

The Rockets Get the Least Production From Their Bench in the NBA

The Rockets' second unit was outscored 53-9 in Monday's loss to the Bulls. Of course, not every team will get 25 and 17 points off their bench from two players, but the Rockets' nine points from six players against the Bulls is not an outlier.

Coming into their important matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Rockets rank last in bench points, 29th in field goal percentage, and 29th in assists.

The Rockets are last in points because they are 30th in minutes per game for the second unit, but the reason for the lack of minutes has more to do with production than the other way around.

With Sheppard in the starting lineup, the Rockets dont have a bench player who can create his own shot or is a high-volume, efficient 3-point shooter. That has led the Rockets to play their starting five more than any other team in the NBA.

The lack of production from the bench has led Kevin Durant and Amen Thompson to be in the top three in minutes per game, with Thompson ranking second and Durant ranking third, which could be a major issue in the future for Durant, who is 37 years old with alot of games and minutes played in his career.

With the Rockets' struggles on offense over the last two months, some may be suprised that the Rockets rank first in offensive rating amongst starters, which makes the bench's struggles even more apparent, as the Rockets have to rely on the starters for most of their offense.

The regular season is coming to an end sooner rather than later, and even though playoff rotations are shortened with some teams only going with an eight-man rotation, you still need a player or multiple players to step up if you want to have any chance at a deep playoff run.