found something I can agree with you on. Flagg will be a great player.

I'm 15 years old again! Roundball Rock is back with the NBA on NBC. This is an amazing moment.
And also for the first time since 1995 the Houston Rockets are going back to the 2026 NBA Finals.

Losing Fred VanVleet for the season with his ACL injury wasn't ideal. Hard to replace a great leader, NBA champion and point guard.
But the Houston Rockets are changing basketball with their dinosaur lineup. Plus Reed Sheppard has a huge opportunity off the bench.

NBA
@NBA
·3m
6'7" Amen Thompson
6'11" Kevin Durant
6'11" Jabari Smith Jr.
6'11" Alperen Sengun
6'11" Steven Adams

TALLEST STARTING LINEUP on opening night since starters were first tracked in 1970-71 🤯

Win or lose tonight at Oklahoma City against the defending NBA champions. I think the Rockets are built for the playoffs.
Not too worried about what seed they end up with or their regular-season success. I'm focused on the playoffs come April.

Also the Houston Rockets are hard-capped below the first luxury tax apron. They received a $14.1 million disabled player exception for Fred VanVleet. Meaning on December 15 (when the entire Rockets roster is available to trade including free agents). They can trade out a salary to bring in a salary of equal value. It can help. At the moment the Rockets can't sign anybody. Even to a league minimum contract. They have to wait until December 15. The Rockets don't really need much to be honest. Maybe a veteran point guard with playoff experience.

Beautiful. Kevin Durant shooting a mid-range jumper over three OKC Thunder players.
KD has the length and is a walking bucket. Rockets needed that easy scoring for years!

Rockets are on the road leading the defending NBA champion OKC Thunder. 57-51 at Halftime.

Reed Sheppard struggled as a rookie last year and Coach Ime Udoka didn't give him heavy minutes.
But so far year two Reed Sheppard is looking like a three-point assassin and a relentless defender.

Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson are two young stars with superstar potential. Just an incredible skill set for both. Super fun to watch.
Jabari Smith Jr. can become the next Chris Bosh. Reed Sheppard looks like a bigger and more athletic Mark Price. Once a 4x NBA all-star.

Kevin Durant made the right choice coming to Houston. This is going to be a championship team if they can just stay focused.

Like I said. This is a team built for the playoffs. And that's all that matters. They'll likely give Durant 15 or 20 games to rest.
They've got enough depth to win even without their star players. Losing Fred VanVleet didn't hurt as much as people think.

Chet Holmgren is 7-for-8 shooting with 18 points. If the Rockets start to defend him with more aggression in the second half the Rockets will win. SGA the reigning league MVP has 5 points at halftime. The Rockets are obviously focused on stopping him. Amen Thompson and all that length can do it. No problem.

This post was edited by MADmartigan on Oct 21 2025 06:53pm

Rockets ayyyy

Championship or bust this year for the Houston Rockets. Only thing they really need to do is perhaps acquire a veteran point guard with playoff experience before the trade deadline on February 5. They can't really make a trade until December 15 at the earliest. So far in this game it looks like Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard can handle the point guard duties just fine between the two of them. They also have a third point guard Aaron Holiday but they haven't used him tonight. And technically Alperen Sengun is a great passing big man. So they can get a lot of assists from their forwards and centers as well.

Rockets def gonna be a problem with KD

did tari eason get worse at basketball?

SGA getting that foul. No way! Looked like great defense by the Rockets. Jeez. 101-100 game with 1:42 left.