There’s only 1 way Rockets fans should feel about Kevin Durant after 12 games

Sometimes, we get ahead of ourselves when looking forward. We overestimate how good something will be before it happens, and then we're let down by the reality of it. That's not the case with Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets right now. He's been as good as the most optimistic believers, and his first month with the team should have fans ecstatic about the future of this pairing between player and team.

Durant seems happy in Houston, where he's the old head on the squad (Jeff Green is actually older than KD, but Durant is the old head who plays consistently).

His pure, timeless creation prowess is such a great fit between Alperen Sengun's post brilliance, Amen Thompson's unique attacking chops, and the emergence of Reed Sheppard and Jabari Smith Jr, who's made a small but noticeable leap as a shotmaker.

Kevin Durant has been exactly what the Rockets needed

In theory, Durant was going to fill in as the Rockets' No. 1 scorer, their go-to option, their ultimate bailout option when the offensive isn't clicking.

In practice... He's been exactly that. The Rockets went from the No. 12-ranked offense in the league last year to the best unit in the league in 2025-26. Of course, Thompson and Sengun's career years have played a huge role in that, but those improvements have been possible, in large part, because Durant is in the mix. His presence opens up so many possibilities for his teammates, and those teammates are cashing in.

Take the Rockets' last game, against the Magic, for example. Orlando deployed a strategy that was essentially let Alperen Sengun dominate inside as long as Kevin Durant doesn't get outside shots. It wasn't a great strategy. I can't blame the Magic for it, though, because what else are they supposed to do?

Shutting down both Sengun and Durant may be impossible

There were about a dozen instances of the Magic letting a defender try (and usually fail) to stop Al in the low block, because the other option was helping down off of Durant which is never a recipe for success.

But eventually, Sengun was dominating enough by himself that the Magic were forced to show him a double team, and if you're unfamiliar with Kevin Durant's game, he doesn't need much time or space to operate, especially when he's getting a pass from the post. The second his defender helps down to the post, the possession might already be over.

By the end of the night, both Sengun and Durant had scored at least 30 points. In past years, opposing teams didn't have to worry about things like this. Even if Sengun scored a bunch of baskets, the Rockets' offense felt contained.

Now there are no half-measures; teams will be forced to exert all their energy trying to stop either Sengun (who's gotten better) or Durant (who's still potentially the best one-on-one scorer in the league), allowing the other one plenty of space to operate.

The biggest potential problem for these Rockets was a lack of playmaking. One month in, plays are being made. A lot of them.