How Should The Rockets Assess The Start To Their Season?

As the Houston Rockets have an extended break between games, and they will likely be assessing the team's performance after a mostly dominant start to the season with a few unfortunate letdowns.

Dec 6, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets Guard Aaron Holiday (0) dribbles during the second quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images | Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets are in the midst of an extended regular season break as the NBA Cup moves into the elimination rounds. Looking back on their start to the season, they are likely satisfied with their ability to score and win games at a high level. There are definitely areas the team can improve, but there is little to complain about with Houston's start to the season as the team assesses its next goals after the break.

The top rated trait for the Rockets will is definitely on the offensive side of the ball for the Rockets.

Houston has found a way to deal with the loss of Fred VanVleet before the season, giving the ball to Alperen Sengun and Kevin Durant to create for their teammates. Sengun especially has been adept at creating shots for his teammates, including Durant.

Durant has been elite at creating his own shot, and finishing his opportunities at a high level. He has created space for players such as Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson to showcase their offensive talents. Tari Eason was also taking advantage of open opportunities with his best shooting stretch in his career.

The three-point efficiency has also been a major storyline for the Rockets, as they've been one of the best shooting teams in the league.

Aaron Holiday and Reed Sheppard have been big contributors to the team's three-point percentage, knocking down a high percentage of shots due to their open opportunities. Their chemistry with the team's top players has been creating plenty of offense for the entire team.

The shooting and offense overall has been one of the best traits for the Rockets as they've gotten off to a solid start and are one of the top teams in the Western Conference.

The defense hasn't been quite at the same level as the offense, despite still being relatively effective.

The Rockets need to find a way to keep their defense effective against other top defenses. Their defensive effort has been the leading cause of some of their most disappointing losses this season, and it isn't quite at the level it had been in seasons prior.

The Rockets have dominated lesser competition this season, but they've had mixed results against some of the better teams in the league. They'll need to combine their efforts on both sides of the ball to keep making progress into the next phase of the season.