Amen Thompson opens his case for coveted award with dream performance vs Mavericks

As the Houston Rockets extended their win streak with a pivotal victory over the Dallas Mavericks, 110-102, the team, despite a rough start to the night, rallied around their star players in order to come away with the victory.

Yet, third-year player Amen Thompson stole the show, leading the team in scoring and shooting insanely efficiently from the floor, and, in the course of doing so, he opened his case for the coveted Most Improved Player Award this season.

Through a whopping 39 minutes on the court, Thompson posted 27 points, five rebounds and four assists while shooting 61.1% from the floor.

Thompson, who took a massive leap last year and made his first All-Defensive team, has already had buzz surrounding him for a run at the award, and, if he can shoot at even a semblance of the clip he did tonight across the course of the season, he could quickly become a shoe-in.

Amen Thompson's refreshing performance serves as a reminder of the leap he is poised to take this season

As Thompson ascended to the starting lineup last season, it became clear that Houston did not just have a special player on their hands, but potentially a generational one.

Not only did he play some of the most imposing point-of-attack and perimeter defense in the NBA throughout the course of the season, he averaged 14.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists while doing so.

Therefore, as the Rockets entered the 2025-26 NBA season, it was reasonable to expect Thompson to take on a larger role.

Yet, with the season-ending injury that Fred VanVleet suffered, Thompson was thrust into a facilitational role that would quite clearly force him to add both scoring and playmaking aspects to his game at a rapid pace, and, so far, he has done so nicely.

Through the Rockets' first five games, Thompson averaged 6.3 assists per 36 minutes on the court, and, although his five assist performance against Dallas will bring this number down a bit, he has largely looked like the semi-reliable ballhandler that the team desperately needs in this moment.

Nevertheless, his path to winning Most Improved Player runs through his efficiency in shooting from the floor, and, tonight, Thompson put on a show in that regard.

If he can average close to 20 points this season, a feat that is easily attainable given his increased offensive role, and continue his stellar defensive play, Thompson could transform into one of the most impactful players in the league before our eyes.

Therefore, his excellent performance against the Mavericks, hopefully, represents just the beginning of another breakout campaign for the young guard.