Fred VanVleet’s turnover-free return powers the Rockets’ new running game

Fred VanVleet’s first regular-season game back from a torn ACL looked like the answer to the Rockets’ biggest problem from a year ago. The point guard finished with six points, 11 assists and not a single turnover in nearly 30 minutes of Houston’s 128-110 opening win over Dallas, William Guillory writes.

With VanVleet back after missing all of 2025-26, Houston played at a much faster pace than it did last season, scoring 29 of its 128 points on the fast break, a total the team reached only twice all of last season. “We have the talent. We have the guys to make the plays. We’ve just got to get to our spots and run our stuff,” said Jabari Smith Jr., who took advantage of the increased scoring opportunities to finish with 30 points.

The easier looks should also help Kevin Durant, who scored 30 of his own, and Alperen Sengun. The two finished third and fourth in the league last season in shots attempted in the last five seconds of the shot clock, Guillory notes, which should be less of an issue with the emphasis on playing faster. “When we play defense like that, and we’ve got such good rebounders, we all can get out and get in transition,” Durant said.

Free-agent addition Marcus Smart provided a steadying influence of his own, turning the ball over just once in 26 minutes, while VanVleet used good judgment both pushing the pace and exploiting mismatches in the half court, Guillory adds. Houston also forced 21 turnovers, an emphasis throughout training camp, Varun Shankar writes. The Rockets ranked high in most defensive categories last season but sat in the bottom 10 in creating takeaways.

The Rockets played most of the opener without Tari Eason, whose first-quarter Flagrant 2 ejection was downgraded to a Flagrant 1 after a league review on Thursday.