While it’s obviously a small sample size, the Rockets have done everything they can early in the season to show they deserve to be considered among the top teams in the Western Conference, writes Varun Shankar of The Houston Chronicle.

The Rockets improved to 5-0 on Wednesday with a 32-point drubbing of the Bucks in Milwaukee. The manner in which the team has gone about its 5-0 start has been impressive, with improved play from its young core and important contributions from returning veterans and offseason additions alike.

Houston’s spacing, which was often an issue in the past, has looked much better and the injury return of Fred VanVleet has put Amen Thompson back in the off-ball, defensive-focused role he thrived in two seasons ago, Shankar notes.

“When you have shooters out there, respected shooters, guys that the defense is turning their back … on a guy dribbling the ball … with that space being provided, Twin (Thompson) is taking advantage of it,” Durant said.

Here’s more on the Rockets:

• Veteran guard VanVleet said after Wednesday’s win that this year’s training camp was “one of the best (he’s) been a part of” (Twitter video link Space City Home Network). “It was something special in the air. The energy, the togetherness, the chemistry,” VanVleet. “And I’m not just saying that because of the record — I could care less about the record, we’re focused on getting out of the first round (of the playoffs) this year, so I’m not really worried about what our record is right now — but we’re playing some damn good basketball and we gotta keep it up.”
• VanVleet recently said he’s been pushing to play more alongside third-year guard Reed Sheppard and he got his wish on Wednesday with Marcus Smart still sidelined, Shankar tweets. The Rockets have until November 2 to decide whether to exercise their 2027/28 option on Sheppard, though that should be a mere formality after he had a mini-breakout ’25/26 campaign. That fourth-year option is worth $14.04MM.
• In another story for The Houston Chronicle, Shankar explains how and why the Rockets opened the season just $14K below the luxury tax line. As Shankar writes, staying below that threshold for 2026/27 could be a priority, as Houston projects to be a taxpayer in the coming years, with Thompson’s five-year, $208MM rookie scale extension set to kick in next season.