Two consecutive wins! Durant scored 20+2 in his debut, Shen Jing became a point guard with 13+13, and Armen Shepard also woke up.

The Rockets defeated the Jazz 140-127 in the preseason and won two consecutive games. Durant made his debut. In this game, the Rockets have their strongest starting lineup in the regular season, point guard Amen, shooting guard Shepard, forward Smith, power forward Durant and center Shen Jing. The Jazz's lineup is not weak, although the main players have taken a lot of rest. But it’s hard to say who is better between the newcomers and the veterans. And the newcomers performed very well, especially this year's rising star Bailey. He was not afraid of Durant and Amen. In just 25 minutes, he scored 23 points and 5 rebounds on 10-for-15 and 2-for-5 three-pointers.

Pele proved that he was worth the money to be selected with the fifth overall pick in 2025. He is indeed a tall forward who can score well. In addition, the Jazz also have Nurkic inside, the point guard has the rising star George, Hendrickson is also the No. 9 rookie in 23 years, and Mihajlyukla has space. The Jazz are a combination of three superstars and two veterans. There are also Love and Kyle Lee on the bench. After the Rockets came up and were beaten 11-3, many people questioned whether Durant's joining would be worse than last season. They made mistakes one after another and were disorganized. Everyone was using sticks.

Actually, this is pure nonsense. Don’t you need to adjust it? Obviously after Durant came on the court, the rest of the Rockets were still trying to find ways to cooperate with him, but they also made many mistakes, which is forgivable. For example, Shepard thought Amen was going to get the ball high up the field, but he followed it down, which was a direct mistake. In addition, when Durant is on the court, Sheppard and Amen are very hesitant whether to attack or pass the ball. They always pass the ball hard. That was evident in the first quarter, as Amen and Sheppard were passed back and forth, spinning in circles.

Uduka then waved his hand and directly passed the ball to Shen Jing. With Shen Jing's connection, the Rockets finally slowly found the feeling. The Rockets trailed by 2 points in the first quarter and scored 44-36 in the second quarter. Among them are the factors that Shen Jing continues to organize with the ball, but also the factors that Amen and Shepard have begun to wake up. They no longer organize hard, but use offense to drive the pass. Especially during the period when Durant was off the court, the Rockets relied on young players such as Amen and Shepard to launch a transition attack and directly led by 10 points.

In the final analysis, the young Rockets still need to speed up. The Rockets themselves have terrifying defensive capabilities, and they are too big. Shen Jing can always find a big man who can cut through the air. Shen Jing can hit the ground for Durant to shoot and follow, he can also force Smith and Amen inside, and he can even find Capela in the gap to pass the ball. The integration of positional warfare and transition offense is the key to whether the Rockets and Durant are 100% compatible. At least in the third quarter today, the Rockets played the offensive system Uduka wanted.

Just use Durant as a stabilizer. The Rockets will normally play the run-and-gun game of last season, constantly increasing speed, rushing the frame, grabbing rebounds, attacking twice, and being full on defense. If the problem cannot be solved, then give the ball to Durant. At other times, the Rockets only need to treat Durant as an ordinary player. Just like Durant said when he joined the Rockets, young people just need to be themselves, and he will take action at critical moments. Obviously, in the first game today, the Rockets have done what Durant wanted. Playing in a system that ranked second in the Western Conference last season during regular time, and using Durant's ability at critical moments will not only raise the lower limit, but also allow Durant to save more effort.

In terms of full-game statistics for the Jazz, Bailey had 25 points and 6 rebounds, Sensabaugh had 24 points, George had 16 points, 2 rebounds and 9 assists, Hendricks had 15 points, and Nurkic had 12 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. For the Rockets, Durant scored 20 points and 2 rebounds. He was 0 for 3 and 7 for 7. Amen slowly learned how to play a point guard with 19 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Smith had 18 points. Shen Jing had 13 points, 13 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 steals and 11 blocks. Shepard also scored 11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks. Capela had 8 points and 7 rebounds, Ethan had 8 points and 3 rebounds, Davidson had 8 points and 3 rebounds, and Holiday had 11 points. Overall, the Rockets have figured out how to organize without Van Jordan. There are still two preseason games, and the Rockets still have time to adjust.