Kevin Durant RETURNS, Rockets DOMINATE Utah Jazz & Reed Sheppard Era OFFICIALLY Begins
Kevin Durant RETURNS, Rockets DOMINATE Utah Jazz & Reed Sheppard Era OFFICIALLY Begins
Houston Rockets unleash dominant win over Utah Jazz as Kevin Durant returns and Reed Sheppard cements his spot in the starting lineup. Can this revamped rotation propel the Rockets to championship heights?
Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) breaks down the Rockets 129-101 rout, spotlighting Kevin Durant’s effortless 25-point performance and Reed Sheppard’s defensive evolution with four steals and two blocks. Key discussion points include Alperen Şengün’s fourth quarter scoring run, Amen Thompson’s nine-assist playmaking, and Jabari Smith Jr.’s continued growth on both ends. Hear insights on Ime Udoka’s evolving rotation, Steven Adams’ high-impact bench play, and what permanent changes to the lineup mean for Houston’s title aspirations. Is this team the real juggernaut of the Western Conference?
#Rockets #NBA #KevinDurant
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#HoustonRockets #Rockets #NBA #KevinDurant #AlperenSengun #AmenThompson #JabariSmithJr #TariEason #ReedSheppard #FredVanVleet #DorianFinneySmith #StevenAdams #AaronHoliday #JaeSeanTate #JeffGreen #ClintCapela #JoshOkogie
22 Comments
Good morning! Staring post-thanksgiving week with locked on rockets!
🤘🏾🚀🤘🏾🚀Geaux Rockets
“Native Houstonian, and credentialed media member!”
AARON GREEN LIGHT HOLIDAY!
I'm just impressed that we took care of business early. Utah will be hungry to redeem themselves tonight but we'll be ready too!
Is it possible we can see holiday or Sheppard in the 3 point contest
JABARI HAS PREFORMED A GATHER STEP ON A DRIVE TO THE RIM!
#BREAKING
Now let’s see if he can do a gather spin to the cup.
If he just add these two moves, I’d be so much comfortable with Bari on drives. 🙌🏿
Man, when we finally get Tari back and DFS is playing and gets into shape we are going to be freaking STACKED even more!
The Rockets are 2nd in offense, 2nd in defense and 2nd in Net rating. They are the 2nd best team in the league.
This year’s championship is a 3 team race, but I think at full strength with Eason and DFS, only the rockets and the thunder have a true chance at winning it all this year
With Reed starting, the offense looked very smooth and efficient rather than the clunkiness it has looked most times. KD and Alpi would now be more freer and more efficient bcos of the shooting gravity Reed provides.
It seems KD is going to take a leave every 12 games or so to get himself on the rails again. He was shooting great last night.
No Adams tonight? No back to back?
I am sure Alpi had got some kind of mental setback by the Islamic fundamentalist idiots' comments back in Türkiye about his talking about so highly of the Turkish alcoholic drink, Raki ( we call it Lion's milk) recently on a video. Now I am glad to see that he seems to be getting out of that trauma now.
You seem not convinced that Alpi was not affected by the MINORITY criticism, which never blew up in Turkey nor did it make any national news. Trust me, I would not be surprised Alpi who doesn't even read comments was probably unaware of those comments. Those same people also have chirped for years about some of Alpi's clothes, but yet Alpi doesn't care. So, TRUST us when we say the comments were MAJORLY supporting Alpi from Turks, and this Raki thing is a non-issue, because it is INDEED our national drink. It wasn't Alpi's personal opinion. It is a fact. The three game slump was coincidence timing wise. It happens. In the past he had other three game slumps, so please don't read too much into the reason of the slump except for what it is : it sometimes happens. Thanks, Jackson, if you read this comment.
Just watching yesterday's game, watch locked on daily year round, don't comment much and will watch this shortly, BUT!!! at the 3:45 mark left in the 3rd, SteveO – Monster Block, Monster Dunk, Big Def Rebound, then caps it with the assist!!! I MEAN WOW!!!!!!!
Dorian finny smith is gonna boost our team so much! His impact is gonna bring us to another level!!
Jackson, can you reach out to RedNationBlogga and have him on your show? He really knows His stuff and I think it would make for an excellent show
Is this the DFS waiting room?
The Rockets are coming together as a team. I just don't think everyone realizes how good they are going to be in a few years. First they still have room for a lot of physical development. Sengun can put on a lot of muscle, if you fill him out he will easily be the best big man in the game assuming his outside shooting remains consistent(and yes that includes Wemby and Jokic). People seem to forget about Jabari, more muscle and continued skill refinement and you get a Chris Bosh/KD hybrid. If he continues to work hard(and I'm sure he will) he will be an all-star at some point. Amen got a lot of run this off-season and his play hasn't been as spectacular as the hype. Amen is pretty much completed as a physical specimen, he is not like the others who can still become better athletically. Amen is a really knowledgeable and serious kind of guy. He will continue to improve at the margins as his skill set and experience mature. He may never be a 35% 3point shooter but he will always give it everything he has. In my opinion he is the guy the coaching staff needs to work with the most. Ball handling has been an issue, Amen needs to forget the shooting for now and become the best ball handler in the league(and yet not be a point guard). He needs to dig up all the old Pistol Pete Marovich drills and not pigeon hole himself into a particular position – this may be a job for the coaching staff to figure out the best way to use him. As far as Reed Sheppard goes, we still don't know the limits of his game. He can shoot and he certainly looks like a point guard to me. I think he could be the best pure shooter in the game but he seems to have some unlocked potential to be much more. It is too early to evaluate Reed but I think he's going to end being the best player from his draft class. So we seem to have 4 potential all-stars on this team in the coming years. KD is currently our fifth starter, I'm not sure how long KD can play but his consistency is what really sets him apart. For him, I think its a matter of how many games he can play in a year, and can he still up his game in the playoffs. Personally, I would be giving KD more of these two game holidays and pulling him earlier in the games when we have a big lead. It would be nice if we played the Jazz more often. I am really looking forward to seeing them play OKC again, just to judge how they have progressed since the first game of the season. I think we play them 38 games into the schedule. By that time the team rotation should be set and the players have a good feel for what they are doing, that is the next milestone moment for this team.
No waiting on a man Thomas to get back in shape and Alpi to start playing again
Yeah, it’s too bad. Reed can’t be one of the best shooters in the NBA already and a lockdown defender. That’s not fair.
Rockets shouldn't lose more than 4 games the rest of this calendar year.