There Is A Formula To Beating The Rockets

The Houston Rockets started this season looking like a juggernaut team on offense and defense, knocking down shots at a high rate. That version of the Rockets is just a memory as teams have gotten more acclimated to the best ways to defeat the Rockets.

Now, the formula to beating the Rockets is out, and it could become a big problem down the line if Houston can't find a way to counteract their deficiencies.

Houston's difficulties start with an admission about its early season offense: the elite offensive rebounding supported a lot of the team's scoring, even with toop marks in deep shooting.

The Rockets have developed an overreliance on being able to outrebound opposing teams for extra possessions. Tari Eason, Amen Thompson, and Steven Adams are the teams best offensive rebounders, but Adams' injury takes away a major advantage on the boards for the Rockets.

Despite Adams' injury, the Rockets still rely on the offensive boards to help their offense when they can't make shots. It just doesn't work as well, since good rebounding teams are able to match with the Rockets efforts when Houston's main bruiser isn't in the lineup.

Without being able to depend on a consistent rebounding advantage to boost their offense, more pressure has been placed on the actual shot making. Outside of Kevin Durant, no one on the team is truly hitting at a consistent rate.

Alperen Sengun is the most consistent outside of Durant, but he hasn't finished his close looks at the rim at the same rate as he did to begin the season. Jabari Smith Jr. hasn't been an efficient shooter since the end of 2025, and Reed Sheppard doesn't get enough opportunities to make much of a difference on offense.

With all of these difficulties, the Rockets fall into their tendency to rely on Durant significantly. While Durant has elite handles for someone with his size, he's not as proficient as a ball handler expected to have the ball to start each possession. This causes some ugly turnovers and poor decisions from Houston's top scorer.

The biggest problem comes from Thompson's inability to shoot, and the coaching staff's inability to put him in different positions when the opposition is exploiting his weakness.

So many opponents have placed a center on Thompson starting back from last year's postseason. Now, it has become the best way to guard against his rim pressure and help against the paint scoring of Sengun, which in turn limits the amount of playmaking Sengun is able to accomplish.

The ripple effects of Thompson's difficulties even shooting mid range shots has created a sure-fire way to create problems for the Rockets' offense. There's enough talent on the team to overcome that against less talented teams, but against a postseason contender, it could be what leads to an early exit for the Rockets in the playoffs.