The Houston Rockets Had Their Best Passing Game of the Season

The Houston Rockets used their best passing game of the season to end the Atlanta Hawks 11 game winning streak.

Mar 20, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) handles the ball against Atlanta Hawks center Jock Landale (31) during the second quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images | Erik Williams-Imagn Images

Throughout Ime Udoka's tenure as Houston Rockets head coach, the Rockets have been known as one of the best, if not the best, rebounding teams in the NBA, a hard-nosed, hard-playing team, and one of the best defensive teams in the league.

Also, when hiring Udoka, they wanted a team that took better care of the basketball, as they were among the bottom-ranked teams in turnovers during the rebuilding seasons.

The Rockets made their first signing, Fred VanVleet, the championship point guard from the Toronto Raptors. That move paid off immediately as the Rockets had their best turnover season in franchise history.

The Rockets were still in the bottom ten in assists, but they did a good job of maximizing their possessions with VanVleet running the show. That was the plan again this season, as VanVleet was set to lead the new-look Rockets into a season in which many had them as one of the title favourites.

The injury to VanVleet before the start of the season changed all that, as the Rockets have had to scramble all season to make up for VanVleet's absence.

The numbers have shown how much the Rockets have missed VanVleet. The Rockets rank 26th in assists and 26th in turnovers after ranking eighth and 11th in turnovers the previous two seasons. That is what made Friday night's win over the Atlanta Hawks stand out even more, aside from the Rockets snapping their 11-game winning streak.

The Rockets Had Their Best Passing Game of the Season in Win Over the Hawks

The Rockets have relied on a more isolation-oriented offensive scheme for most of the season. Alperen Sengun and Kevin Durant have operated at the top of the key, either trying to score or to force a double team to get their teammates open shots.

That has been the Rockets' offense for most of the season, but in the win over the Hawks, they used ball and player movement to win. The Rockets scored 117 points, made 42 shots, and assisted on 33 of those 42 shots, with Alperen Sengun leading the way with a game-high ten assists.

The 33 assists on 42 shots were the Rockets' best assist percentage performance of the season, as the Rockets assisted on 78.6 percent of their made field goals, which is over five percentage points better than their second-best game.

Rockets had the type of ball and player movement they haven't had in weeks, as they were able to keep the Hawks' defense scrambling and out of position.

The Rockets will not average 30 assists a game to finish this season, as they are more of an isolation team that reads and reacts. But if they can continue to get everyone involved and play at a faster pace, they could turn around their recent offensive woes and have a better chance at playoff success.