‘Fills this glaring void’: As Rockets stack wins, Kevin Durant draws national praise

After Sunday’s thrilling come-from-behind victory over Orlando (ClutchFans postgame show), the Houston Rockets have now won nine of their last 10 games, overall.

At 9-3, the Rockets are just a half-game back of Denver for the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference standings, and they still rank No. 1 in the NBA in offensive rating.

One clear reason for that success, both in Sunday’s comeback against the Magic and the 2025-26 season to date, is the offseason addition of All-Star forward Kevin Durant.

Now 37 years old, the future Hall of Famer is currently averaging 25.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting 51.0% overall, 40.0% on 3-pointers, and 88.8% on free throws.

On ESPN’s latest The Hoop Collective podcast, Tim MacMahon and Tim Bontemps dove deeper into what it means for the Rockets as a team.

MacMahon: “Can we talk about the fact that KD is still an elite scorer in year 19? There’s been very little dropoff there, and now he’s in a situation in Houston where he just fills this glaring void as a go-to guy. He’s off to an incredible start.”

Bontemps: “Last season, the Rockets in offensive rating were 12th in the regular season. This year, they’re first. Yes, some other things changed. (Alperen) Sengun has played great, and Reed Sheppard is really starting to play well.”

“But Dillon Brooks is an inefficient shooter, and Jalen Green is a very inefficient shooter. They swapped them out for Kevin Durant, and that’s a pretty giant part of why they went from being an up-and-down offensive team — who really needed to offensive rebound to have any success — to now having the best offense in the league. They’re still offensive rebounding like crazy, but they also have Kevin Durant out there to make shots.”

MacMahon: “He’s averaging 26 (points) on 51-40-89 shooting splits. That’s pretty good.”

The complete podcast, which also features ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, can be viewed below.

Durant and the Rockets will look to keep their momentum rolling when they visit Donovan Mitchell’s Cleveland Cavaliers (10-5) on Wednesday night. Tipoff is at 6:00 p.m. Central, and the game will be televised to a national audience on ESPN.

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