Rockets are walking proof elite teams don’t have to take the same path

The Houston Rockets, despite all of the concerns surrounding the construction of their roster following the injury to starting point guard Fred VanVleet, have emerged as one of the most dominant forces in the NBA, and, in doing so, they have forged a new and unconventional path toward contention.

Through the first month of NBA action, the Rockets are first in the NBA in offensive rating and first in 3-point percentage, yet they are dead last in the NBA in 3-pointers attempted per game. In the modern spacing era, Houston is redefining what it means to be contender, living instead in the realm of second chance points and highly effective isolation scoring.

According to Sam Vecenie on the latest episode of The Game Theory podcast, this type of play has already cemented them as contenders this season:

"[The Rockets are] absolutely a contender. They are super long and super tough on defense. They are really effective on offense... [The Thunder and Rockets] seem very tightly matched to me right now."

Sam Vecenie

Despite all of the concerns heading into the season, the Rockets have found a way to be an elite team

In acquiring Kevin Durant this offseason from the Phoenix Suns, the Rockets clearly intended the move to be the final piece for a contending team, providing their budding young core with one of the most polished scorers in NBA history in order to push the envelope on their struggling offense.

Yet, when VanVleet went down for the season with a torn ACL, almost everyone, including fans of the team, had serious concerns for how it would affect their ceiling. Not only was VanVleet a crucial part of their offense as a facilitator and a perimeter shooter, he was also a mainstay on their defense as a point-of-attack defender.

Without a bona-fide point guard on the roster, many thought that the Rockets' offensive ceiling would be severely limited by VanVleet's absence.

However, they were thinking in traditional basketball terms.

How Houston has adjusted has been remarkable. According to the pace metric, which measures the possessions teams garner per 48 minutes of play, the Rockets are the fourth-slowest team in the NBA. Yet, they are still, by most metrics, the best offense in the league, meaning that they are scoring highly effectively when they do have the ball in their hands.

They are playing slower to account for their lack of a rapid-processing offensive facilitator, instead depending on isolation possessions for Durant and Alperen Sengun conjoined with their uncanny ability to grab offensive rebounds and provide themselves with second-chance points.

The general mark for a contender in the NBA is to be top-10 in the league in both offensive and defensive rating. Although they have taken a slight step back on defense this season, they are currently first in offensive rating and eighth in defensive rating.

No matter how you spin it, this team is a contender, and they're accomplishing it in their own way.