The Houston Rockets won 52 games this season, but it cannot be considered a success.
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Despite adding Kevin Durant and seemingly positioning themselves to compete for a Western Conference title, the Rockets finished with the same win total as last season and often looked less connected than they did a year earlier. Houston suffered a second consecutive first-round elimination, this time at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Rockets hoped a promising young core and veteran Durant, who is still playing at an All-Star level, would be a perfect fit after youth seemingly limited the team’s ceiling last season. Instead, they are back to where they were before.
Here’s a look at what went wrong for the Rockets this season.
FURTHER:Why Kevin Durant’s throwaway story was right about the Rockets
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What went wrong for the Rockets?
The Rockets’ outlook changed when starting second point guard Fred VanVleet suffered a torn ACL before the start of the regular season. With virtually no other option, Houston opted to use Amen Thompson as the de facto point guard and force key players out of their typical roles.
With what was supposed to be a deep roster, the Rockets were still expected to compete with some of the best teams in the West, with the exception of perhaps the Oklahoma City Thunder.
52 wins wasn’t the worst-case scenario, but it wasn’t an improvement over last season either. Alperen Sengun struggled on the defensive end for much of the year, while Jabari Smith Jr. made some small strides on offense but also struggled defensively.
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The depth the Rockets thought they had wasn’t always there either. Steven Adams was limited to just 32 games and missed the final three months of the regular season, while free agent Dorian Finney-Smith struggled so much that he was left out of the rotation. Meanwhile, a lack of shooters left the Rockets 28th in three-point attempts, even though their efficiency wasn’t bad at all.
A little disconnected on the defensive end and too one-dimensional on the offensive end, the Rockets couldn’t find the kind of rhythm they had last season, even with Durant in the fold. Houston should have been a team that improved as the season went on and Durant became comfortable with his new teammates, but the Rockets instead struggled down the stretch and were forced to start the playoffs on the road, where they missed Durant in all but one game of their series loss to the Lakers.
FURTHER:Complete timeline of Kevin Durant’s teams
Timeline of rocket problems in 2026
Fred VanVleet tears ACL
The Rockets lost veteran guard Fred VanVleet before the season even began, as VanVleet tore his ACL in training in September and did not return. VanVleet didn’t have his most efficient season in 2024-25, but he gave the Rockets a floor general who had a habit of shooting 3-pointers and knew how to work with the team’s young players.
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Losing VanVleet so late in the offseason meant the Rockets had to make Amen Thompson a de facto point guard, leaving Houston with one less shooter and forcing key players to change their roles.
Steven Adams undergoes season-ending surgery
Houston’s depth suffered another major blow when Steven Adams underwent season-ending ankle surgery in January, leaving the team without one of its best rebounders and defenders. The former Thunder big man was averaging 8.6 rebounds per game before the injury, including coming off the bench in nearly two-thirds of his games.
Kevin Durant Discarded Account Allegations
An off-court situation rocked the Rockets at the All-Star break when X users dug up what appeared to be a discarded account belonging to Kevin Durant. That account had sent direct messages disparaging Sengun and Smith, criticizing their defense and firing shots in vulgar terms. Durant never confirmed or denied that the account was his, declining the opportunity to clear things up publicly, but it created an awkward situation from the outside.
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FURTHER:Explaining Kevin Durant’s discarded account allegations
Problems after the All-Star break
In theory, the Rockets should have improved as the season went on, as Durant became more comfortable and the team became accustomed to life without VanVleet. Instead, Houston went on a 6-8 stretch from late February to late March. The Rockets were able to get back on track late in the season, finishing on a 9-1 run, but only three of those wins came against playoff teams.
Kevin Durant’s untimely injuries
One of the brightest spots for the Rockets this season was the health of Durant, who dealt with nagging injuries in Brooklyn and Phoenix but missed just four regular-season games, his highest mark in seven years. Unfortunately for Houston, the injury bug hit Durant at the worst time. He surpassed his regular-season total by missing five games in the Rockets’ series against the Lakers due to knee and ankle injuries, hastening the end of a difficult season.
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Lost in the first round to the Lakers
With Durant playing in just one game, the Rockets bowed out against a Lakers team that never had Luka Doncic even step foot on the court in their first-round series. LA also missed Austin Reaves for the first four games of the series.
Houston struggled mightily on the offensive end with and without Durant over the first three games, and the hole was too deep for the Rockets to dig out of even though the Lakers’ core was so depleted. After fighting back with wins in Games 4 and 5, the Rockets’ offense hit a new low in a dismal Game 6 loss.