The Houston Rockets lost starting point guard Fred VanVleet to an ACL tear before the season. Their plan to replace him had mixed results in their season-opening 124-125 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
With VanVleet out for the season, the Rockets decided to go big to start the season. They started 6-foot-7 Amen Thompson at point guard and 6-foot-11 Kevin Durant at the 2 — the tallest starting lineup in NBA history. The Rockets were indeed able to dominate the boards with their oversized lineup, but the point guard play was lacking.
Amen Thompson was an atypical point guard choice
Thompson is a fantastic athlete and a first-team All-Defensive team member. He can handle the ball well, but he doesn’t do the typical point guard things like shoot and run the offense. Tuesday, he finished with five assists and four turnovers, scoring 18 points but shooting 0-for-6 on threes.
That’s mitigated by some of the players surrounding him. Alperen Sengun had seven assists of his own and shot 5-for-8 from deep, a career-high for triples. Durant thrives in isolation and doesn’t need assists as much. The Rockets offensive rebounding gives them a number of high-percentage putbacks.
The Thunder generally didn’t risk pressuring Thompson full-court, since the 22-year-old is fast enough to blow by defenders and go all the way to the hoop. But the Thunder rallied in the third quarter by forcing turnovers in the half-court, particularly on plays by Alex Caruso.
