Rockets Roll Out Supersized Starting Lineup Featuring Kevin Durant
The Houston Rockets are starting Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, Kevin Durant, and Jabari Smith Jr. against the Bucks on Wednesday.
HotTakes Editorial TeamUpdated 1 min read
Finding live odds…

The Houston Rockets are rolling out a starting five that looks like it was built in a lab by a mad scientist who hates traditional basketball positions. According to Underdog NBA, Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, Kevin Durant, and Jabari Smith Jr. are getting the nod on Wednesday.
Yes, Kevin Durant is a Houston Rocket, and yes, they are currently an absolute buzzsaw. Houston is sitting at a flawless 4-0 to start the season, having just swept a home-and-home against the Hawks after handling the Mavericks and Spurs.
"Underdog NBA reported the lineup alert for Wednesday's game."
This lineup is objectively terrifying. You have VanVleet running the show, surrounded by four guys who are basically condors wearing basketball shoes. Trying to score on a frontcourt of Eason, Durant, and Smith Jr. sounds like trying to throw a tennis ball through a ceiling fan.
For anyone firing up daily fantasy rosters or looking at player props, this configuration completely changes the math. Thompson and Eason stepping into the starting unit means serious rebounding and defensive stat upside, while Durant gets to operate with an absurd amount of length covering his blind spots.
The real test comes Wednesday night when this supersized experiment travels to Milwaukee to face the Bucks. If this five-man unit clicks against that level of competition, the rest of the Western Conference might need to call an emergency meeting.
Key stats
The Houston Rockets are 4-0 to start the season.
Houston has scored 120+ points in their last two games against Atlanta.
What's next
The Rockets will test this new starting five against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night.

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