The Houston Rockets sent a message with their Friday night 114-110 win over the San Antonio Spurs. The Rockets had already won their season opener on Wednesday. But in a sign of how far expectations had fallen for Houston this season, that matchup was against the lowly Dallas Mavericks. Just two games in, expectations are already on the rise.
Rockets-Spurs Was the Rockets’ First Real Test
Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs were a team that looked like they had Houston’s number last season. They had a lot of teams’ number, hence winding up as the second-last team standing, making it all the way to the NBA Finals.
In particular, though, the Rockets looked like they had an Amen Thompson problem in Thompson’s matchup with Wembanyama.
That matchup looked less problematic for the Rockets on Friday night, as the signature moment of it was Thompson swatting Wembanyama’s last-second shot attempt to tie. The block, which was on a post-up with Thompson as Wembanyama’s primary defender, sealed the game for Houston.
Thompson also scored 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting, pulled in 10 rebounds, and added four assists and two steals to go with his two blocks. He even made 1-of-2 three-pointers.
Caveats to Thompson’s Great Night
There are some caveats to Thompson’s revenge game versus the Spurs, though. For one thing, Thompson was the only Rockets starter with a negative plus/minus. In 36 minutes of playtime, the Rockets were outscored by 12 points.
That’s despite the Spurs declining to deploy their “secret” weapon against him. Wembanyama spent most of the game defending Alperen Şengün, rather than Thompson.
Finally, Wembanyama is off to a bumpy start to 2026-27 in general. The seven-foot-“four” Frenchman went 9-of-21 from the field against the Rockets, which was a major improvement on the 1-of-13 he managed in the Spurs’ opener.
Wembanyama’s impact is never limited to just his scoring. He has eight blocks already, two games into the season. But he didn’t seem quite prepared for just how hard opponents were going to lock in on shutting down his offense in 2026-27. The Spurs offense isn’t quite in Finals form just yet.
Why Houston’s Offense Looks Better
None of that should be overly concerning to Rockets fans. Right now, the team is healthy and firing on all cylinders.
Fred VanVleet‘s return has made the Rockets’ offense look actually functional. His 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting to go with five assists against the Spurs undersells the impact he’s already having compared with his absence last season.
Şengün led all scorers in the game with 29 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the floor against the best defender in the NBA. He even went 4-of-6 in the fourth quarter, bamboozling San Antonio’s defense. Not only are Şengün All-NBA predictions looking strong early, but, so far, the work of the Rockets’ new shooting coach appears to be paying dividends as well.
Thompson and Şengün Are Shooting Threes
Shooting coach Chris Engelland worked extensively with Thompson and Şengün on their shooting this offseason. Either of them becoming non-liabilities from deep would be a legitimately era-defining development for the Rockets.
Well, in the win versus the Spurs, Şengün shot 2-of-4 from three, including scoring the first three points of the game. He shot 2-of-2 against the Mavericks as well.
Şengün started strong from three in 2025-26 before petering out. One encouraging difference this time around is that Thompson is also already 2-for-4 from three on the season.
The low volume makes the numbers themselves mean very little, but it’s likely a point of emphasis for neither player to force three-pointers. The shot is never going to be what their game is built around, but if they have the confidence to shoot them when wide open, defenses will have to reconsider their approach to Houston’s offense.
Add to the good news that Jabari Smith Jr. dropped a near-career-high 30 points in the Rockets opener, VanVleet grabbing at his leg during Friday night’s game turned out to be nothing, and Kevin Durant at 38 predictably still looks like Kevin Durant at 37.
The Last Word
The Rockets will play again on Saturday night versus the Atlanta Hawks in their first back-to-back of the season. Hopefully the team will take the cautious approach and rest returning players like VanVleet and Steven Adams. If Reed Sheppard can return from his previously day-to-day listed knee injury, even better. Busy in the midst of a back-to-back, the Rockets are back in business as a possible contender for the NBA title.
Featured Image: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
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