Houston Rockets' Fred VanVleet racks up assists and thumbs up from C.J. Stroud in return

Box scores can chart any number of things on the court. Fred Van Vleet's stat line had some good (11 assists with no turnovers) and some bad (2-for-8 shooting), but there was one number no one was able to track except the man feeling it in the pit of his stomach.

"All those butterflies," he said.

The Houston Rockets' point guard made his return to the court for a game that means something for the first time in more than 17 months, being forced to watch from the sidelines that whole time after tearing his ACL while working out in September 2025.

No amount of missed shots was going to be able to change VanVleet's mood, especially after helping the Rockets dismantle the Dallas Mavericks 128-110 in Wednesday night's season opener at Toyota Center.

"Ah man, I've been smiling all day," he said. "I know the preseason was a little bit of a teaser, but this stuff counts. It's more pressure, it's more nerves. I was jittery for the first time in two years."

Those nerves weren't obvious on the court for the man entering his 11th season in the NBA.

With VanVleet running the show, the Rockets, who ranked near the bottom of the league in assist-to-turnover ratio last season, looked like a free-flowing offense that is much improved from last year's team that often just got the ball to Kevin Durant or Alperen Şengün and hoped they could make something happen.

The veteran point guard - who, barring the preseason, hadn't played in a game since the Rockets were eliminated by the Warriors in the 2025 playoffs - set up his teammates, allowing Durant and Jabari Smith Jr., to score 30 points apiece with Şengün chipping in 23, while the Rockets had more than twice as many assists (32) as turnovers (15).

"That's who he is," Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. "He's been one of the top turnover-assist ratio guy since he's been in the league. He makes the right play and the right read and gets shots up when he doesn't have anything and takes care of the ball."

In VanVleet's previous two healthy seasons in Houston, he was running an offense that counted on him to provide scoring while also relying on Jalen Green's inconsistent hot streaks and a still-learning Şengün. After sitting out a year, VanVleet has returned with weapons on standby, including one of the league's all-time great scorers in Durant while also being able to count on the two-time All-Star Şengün, a blossoming Smith and the ultra-talented Amen Thompson.

"I was laughing with (Steven Adams) because this is one of the first times I feel like every shot that I take doesn't hurt our team, right?" VanVleet said. "I was carrying a lot of responsibility for a few years there. This year it feels like I'm just another piece out there. We've got guys who can pick up the slack and I can just do my thing, run the show and be the general out there."

ROCKETS 128, MAVERICKS 110

Percentages: FG .519, FT .654.

3-Point Goals: 11-37, .297 (Sasser 4-5, Marshall 2-6, Washington 2-6, Flagg 1-4, Irving 1-4, Christie 1-7, de Larrea 0-1, Risacher 0-4).

Team Rebounds: 11. Team Turnovers: None.

Blocked Shots: 4 (Gafford 2, Flagg, Washington).

Turnovers: 21 (Flagg 4, Irving 4, Washington 4, Risacher 3, Christie 2, Marshall 2, Gafford, Sasser).

Steals: 12 (Risacher 5, Flagg 3, Gafford, Irving, Marshall, Sasser).

Technical Fouls: None.

Percentages: FG .528, FT .720.

3-Point Goals: 16-36, .444 (Smith Jr. 4-8, Sengun 2-2, Durant 2-4, Smart 2-4, VanVleet 2-6, Crawford 1-1, Bogdanovic 1-2, Thompson 1-2, Sheppard 1-6, Thornton 0-1).

Team Rebounds: 10. Team Turnovers: 1.

Blocked Shots: 2 (Durant, VanVleet).

Turnovers: 15 (Durant 4, Sengun 4, Sheppard 3, Capela, Smart, Smith Jr., Thompson).

Steals: 11 (VanVleet 3, Sheppard 2, Smith Jr. 2, Durant, Eason, Smart, Thompson).

Technical Fouls: None.

A_18,055 (18,500).

It's just one game, but Durant finally got to experience the steadiness of VanVleet first-hand and walked out of the arena only after leaving a five-star review.

"It was amazing," Durant said. "Just his calming force. I'm one of those players that's just on edge a lot. I'm ready to go all the time. And he comes down, settles the game down. It's times where we need to just get settled down and keep the ball in our hands and take a good shot. So, just to have his presence out there, is just making my life much easier and I know as we continue to get more reps together, I'll get more comfortable and he'll get more comfortable as well."

Durant wasn't the only one in the building who gave his approval. When VanVleet whipped a one-handed pass to Durant in the first half, he turned to Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, who was sitting courtside, to see what he thought.

"I just asked him how it looked, asked him to grade it," VanVleet said. "I didn't feel like it looked great. It was a nice pass, but I didn't get my full proper form. I saw him over there. Me and C.J. have developed a great relationship over the last few years. He's playing at an all-time level right now so I just wanted to see what he thought about my quarterback pass. He said it was good, he gave me two thumbs up. That's my guy, so I don't expect anything less. I would have been hurt if he had given me a thumbs down."

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This article originally published at Houston Rockets' Fred VanVleet racks up assists and thumbs up from C.J. Stroud in return.