Durant joins the Rockets and wins the championship in the new season!

NBA official website updated the latest strength list

Western:

No. 1-5: 1. Thunder, 2. Nuggets, 3. Rockets, 4. Timberwolves, 5. Clippers;

No. 6-10: 6. Lakers, 7. Warriors, 8. Mavericks, 9. Grizzlies, 10. Spurs;

No. 11-15: 11. Trail Blazers, 12. Kings, 13. Suns, 14. Pelicans, 15. Jazz.

East:

1-5: Cavaliers, Knicks, Magic, Pistons, Hawks;

6-10: Bucks, 76ers, Heat, Pacers, Raptors;

11-15: Bulls, Celtics, Hornets, Wizards, Nets;

Rockets ranked third in the West, and because the Cavaliers ranked fourth in the East only ranked fourth in the total. Therefore, the Rockets are also third in the league's strength list. The third place in the NBA's strength list also allowed the Rockets to tie the highest ranking last season. In December last year, the Rockets ranked first in the Western Conference at the beginning of the month. Although the Rockets only ranked second in the West in 15 wins and 6 losses in their record, because of the direct showdown with the Thunder (15 wins and 5 losses), we also successfully "topped" the West and ranked third in the strength list.

However, the Rockets have not actually been favored by the NBA official website for the whole season. Basically, if the Rockets lose one game, they will drop 3-4 places, and if they win a few games, they will get 1 place. The Rockets, ranked third in the West at the end of the season, once fell out of the top 10 of the league's strength list. After that, the Rockets used a 10-win and one loss to reach the eighth place in the strength list (finally ending the regular season with the strength list). In fact, it is understandable that there are no teams with no big-name stars. Even though the Warriors next door were almost playing in the playoffs at that time, the strength list was still stable in the league.

This year, Durant has already third in the league before the season started. This is the superstar for a team. The following is the detailed combat power analysis part given by ESPN in the Rockets. Last week's ranking: No. 5 ↑2024-25 season record: 52 wins and 30 losses,

Offensive efficiency (OffRtg): 114.9 (12th place in the league)

Defensive efficiency (DefRtg): 110.3 (5th place in the league)

Net efficiency (NetRtg): +4.6 (7th place in the league)

Key signings: Kevin Durant, Dorian Finney-Smith, Clint Capela Key players leaving the team: The three key data of Dillon Brooks and Jaylen Green are worth paying attention to. First, the Rockets average 5.5 more shooting opportunities (shooting or going to the free throw line) per game than their opponents, leading the gap in the league with a clear advantage. They also ranked first in the league with a huge advantage in offensive rebounding, averaging 18.1 points per game, ranking second in all teams in 29 seasons tracked by this statistics.

Then according to Second Spectrum's tracking data, the Rockets' defense averaged 51.4 breakthroughs per 100 rounds, the most for the league. However, when a breakthrough directly leads to a move, a mistake or a free throw line, they only give their opponents 0.97 points per breakthrough, making their second lowest loss efficiency in the league.

Finally, last season was Durant's 14th career season in his career where he averaged at least 25 points and had a true shooting percentage of 60% or more. That's five more seasons than any other player in NBA history, with LeBron James (nine times) and Stephen Curry (eight times) ranked second and third.

Key question: Is the team's outside shooting enough?

The Rockets undoubtedly need top scorers like Durant. At non-clutch situations, their offensive efficiency ranks 10th in the league (115.2 points per 100 rounds), but at the last five minutes of the game or the clutch time when the score difference between overtime was within five points (8.6 points less than non-clutch moments), their offensive efficiency plummeted to only 106.6 points per 100 rounds (8.6 points less than non-clutch moments), with only four teams falling more. If the opponent's defense can effectively limit the pick-and-roll cooperation between Fred VanVleet and Alperen Shinkin, the Rockets often find it difficult to get a high-quality (first-time) mobile phone in the final stages of the game. There are still not many high-quality shooters around Durant. Last season, among Rockets players who shot at least 100 3-pointers, only Finney Smith and Aaron Holiday made three-pointers or more than the league average. Whether VanVleet can increase his three-point shooting percentage from 34.5% in his first season with the Rockets to 38.7% closer to his career level will be crucial.