Rockets Unleash 2K-Style Starting Five with Durant and VanVleet
Underdog NBA: 'Lineup alert: Rockets will start VanVleet, Thompson, Durant, Smith Jr., Sengun on Monday.'
The are rolling out a starting five that looks like a 2K MyLeague simulation where the salary cap was turned off. Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, , Jabari Smith Jr., and Alperen Sengun are officially getting the nod for Monday's matchup against the Boston Celtics.
Underdog NBA dropped the lineup alert, confirming Houston is leaning all the way into their chaotic blend of veteran mercenaries and high-upside youth. If you are holding tickets on player props, this is the exact moment you start doing the math on usage rates.
Having VanVleet back and fully integrated is the engine for this whole experiment. He is currently posting 13.0 points and 6.4 assists per game while logging over 30 minutes a night, which is a minor miracle considering his extensive injury history and that recent ACL tear recovery.
Then you have Durant sharing the floor with Sengun. That gives Houston a half-court offense with roughly 500 different ways to score, assuming there is enough basketball to go around for two guys who demand heavy touches.
Throwing Thompson into the mix just adds pure athletic chaos to the perimeter. It is the kind of lineup that will either hang 130 points on a title contender or give up a massive run because nobody knows who is supposed to rotate on defense.
Houston gets to test this five-man unit immediately against Boston on Monday night. We will find out very quickly if this is a legitimate playoff-wrecking rotation or just a very expensive fantasy basketball roster.