Averaging 131 points per game, an unexpected four-game winning streak ended! The Rockets showed their championship appearance, and the Western Conference pattern has changed in the new season

After half a month of competition, the NBA preseason has entered its final stage. Although many teams did not exert their full strength in the preseason, some clues can be gleaned from their performances, such as the Cavaliers and Knicks, the two favorite teams in the Eastern Conference to win the new season. The Knicks have a very high ceiling and have no shortcomings in their lineup; but the Cavaliers are not necessarily the same. They defeated the Celtics with 31 points and lost both games to the Bulls. Garland's absence made the team's floor unstable, but the key is that the ceilings of the short guards Garland and Mitchell are not high. They lost too many points on the court at the same time in the playoffs. On the Western side, the good news for the Clippers is that Paul leads the bench and can win points in every game and take off immediately; but the bad news is that Harden doesn't seem to know how to play anymore, and half of his work is directly taken over by Paul.

According to the predictions given by the US media, the four teams with the highest probability of winning the new season, the Thunder, Nuggets, Knicks and Rockets, have all achieved their goals in the preseason. The Thunder will focus on training the third team, and the Nuggets need new players Varland, Bruce Brown, Hardaway Jr., and Cameron Johnson to gradually adapt to the team's rhythm. But the most surprising thing is the Rockets. The four preseason games ended with 122-113 Hawks in the first game, 140-127 Jazz in the second game, 130-128 Pelicans in the third game, and 133-115 Hawks in the last game. In four games, he averaged 131 points per game! There are two reasons why it was unexpected. Durant did not play in the two duels with the Hawks. In the final game, the Rockets even directly brought out the third lineup and let Sheppard and Okogie lead the team, which directly defeated the main Hawks.

Secondly, after four games, the Rockets team averaged 27.8 assists per game. As a simple comparison, the Rockets last season were typically strong in offense and weak in defense, averaging 23 assists per game, third from the bottom in the league! Unexpectedly, one Van Jordan fell down and the whole team stood up. Is Van Jordan's serious injury a good thing or a bad thing for the Rockets? Let’s start with Durant. In Durant’s two preseason games, he played a total of 52 minutes, made 13 of 23 shots, and scored a total of 35 points. Durant made the Rockets’ offense simpler. Two points are certain. First, Durant's next contract extension will definitely require a salary cut. He himself also said that he hopes to stay with the Rockets until he retires. He hopes to watch young people grow up and win a championship together.

Another most important point is that at the critical moment last season (the score difference was within 5 points in the last 5 minutes of the game), the Rockets shot only 38.1% from the field, the bottom level in the league. Of the 30 games the Rockets lost in the regular season last season, 18 of them were reversed in the last 5 minutes. Durant scored more than 100 points at critical moments last season, and only 11 people in the league did this. There is no doubt that Durant came here to do this job. Give him the ball at critical moments. While he solves the problem, he can also build self-confidence and gain more experience for young people. What is certain for the Rockets in the new season is that they will focus on Amen + Shen Jing + Xiaojia as their tactical focus, and they will take on the task of covering the bottom line for the Rockets.

Needless to say, Amen played 25 minutes per game in the preseason, contributed 17 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists. His three-field shooting percentage was as high as 56% + 67% + 92%. The hard training during the offseason has indeed paid off, and key organization and defense have not fallen behind. He is rushing to renew his contract with a super maximum salary next summer. The same is true for Jia Xiao. He is the Rockets' preseason scoring leader, averaging 17.7 points and 5 rebounds per game, and shooting 47% from three-point range. The Rockets once let him play as a substitute last season, just to lower the price and renew the contract. He will not need it in the new season. He and Durant are both anti-aircraft guns! The most critical point is Shen Jing. After this summer's European Cup experience, Shen Jing's upper body strength has been significantly strengthened. In the preseason, he averaged 13 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists per game, which is not high. However, he took over Van Jordan's grooming work and averaged 2 steals per game.

Ideally, the Rockets' starting lineup for the new season should be: Amen + Finney Smith (healthy) + Durant + Xiaojia + Shen Jing. Of course, Uduka can make many changes, such as letting Adams play in the twin towers, letting Ethan start to share the defensive pressure of Durant and Amen, and even give Shepard, the top pick, some more time. In fact, Shepard definitely has a good upper limit. He averaged 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists per game in the preseason. He has organizational potential, broad vision, quick three-point shots, and good steal judgment and counterattack abilities. However, he lacks more actual combat. In the final game against the Hawks, Shepard led the third team and made 12 of 22 shots in 29 minutes, scoring 29 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks. The Rockets have enough room for error during the regular season, and this is Sheppard's opportunity.

If the Rockets maintain their preseason performance after the start of the new season, there are three possible outcomes. First, they are most likely to hit the first place in the Western Conference and get all the home court advantages in the playoffs; after Durant's regular season consumption is reduced, he can maintain Healthy status, raising the Rockets' upper limit for the playoffs; the most important thing is that this group of young people in the Rockets are still growing, Shen Jing is moving in the direction of Jokic, Amen is versatile offensively and defensively, and the depth of the lineup has the ability to rotate 12-13 people. When the young people can't figure it out, there is Durant behind them. Before that, Ethan needs to agree to a four-year contract extension of about 75 million to 80 million. Durant has completed the salary reduction and renewed the contract. The new season will start with all efforts. There is really no suspense in the Western Conference.