Kevin Durant has always been a dominant scorer, but what separates him from so many others is how he can impact a game without the ball. Throughout his career, he’s left enough room for other perimeter talent around him to shine.
As Durant prepared for his move to the Houston Rockets over the summer, he knew he was joining a roster that would force him to adapt on and off the court in ways he hadn’t been asked to previously.
In particular, there was one player he’d been watching from afar for years.
“Alpi is such a unique talent,” Durant told The Athletic on a road trip in San Antonio, referring to Rockets All-Star center Alperen Şengün. “I’ve never had the chance to play next to a big who can dominate in the post the way he does. It’s something you don’t see too often in our game these days, but he’s got so much more to his game.”
After winning 52 games in 2024-25 and getting bounced in the first round by the Golden State Warriors, the Rockets went into the offseason knowing they had a young core that could compete at the highest level. They just needed a true No. 1 option on offense to get them deeper into the playoffs.
The marriage between Houston and Durant was a natural fit. The 15-time All-Star, who played college basketball roughly three hours away at the University of Texas, wanted to be part of a young team with an upward trajectory after a tumultuous end to his stint with the Phoenix Suns. He also wanted to play next to a star who could help him go toe-to-toe with some of the titans in the Western Conference, such as the Denver Nuggets, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the defending-champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
Durant saw that potential in Şengün, but he also saw something more.
Şengün’s versatility at the center position was something very few teams could match. There aren’t many 6-foot-11, 235-pound bigs who can bully smaller players in the post and also operate on the perimeter like a guard. Durant has teamed up with some of the best point guards ever — Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving and James Harden — but playing next to someone with Şengün’s combination of skill and size was something new.
Durant viewed that partnership as an even bigger challenge for teams that had to come up with ways to slow both of them down.
“It’s definitely been an adjustment,” he said. “I’m always working to make sure I give (Şengün) enough space to do what he does. His instincts in the post are special. The way we’re attacking defenses is a little different from what I’ve done most of my career, but watching his growth this year has been really fun. He’s playing at a high level.”
Kevin Durant and Alperen Şengün celebrate after a made basket against the Detroit Pistons on Oct. 24. (Kenneth Richmond / Getty Images)
The fit with Şengün and Durant was already one that needed time to come together, but it originally was viewed as even more complicated when Houston lost veteran point guard Fred VanVleet to a torn ACL fewer than two weeks before the start of training camp. To make up for everything VanVleet brought as a ballhandler and a calming presence in half-court situations, Şengün and Durant knew their offensive responsibilities would have to increase, and they’d need to operate outside of their comfort zones more than expected.
Durant went from playing with some of the all-time greatest point guards for most of his career to being the leader of a team that doesn’t have a traditional point guard in the rotation. And Şengün has gone from being a big capable of being the hub of the offense to the full-time “point center” in Houston.
After 10 games with their new-look roster, the Rockets aren’t just exceeding expectations. They’ve turned into one of the most potent offenses in the NBA, despite VanVleet’s absence. And their success has been fueled by an emerging one-two punch that’s jelled quicker than anyone could’ve imagined, considering the circumstances.
Per Cleaning The Glass, the Rockets (7-3) are currently No. 2 in points per 100 possessions (124.2) this season, trailing only the Denver Nuggets (124.9). Houston is also No. 10 in offensive rating on half-court possessions after finishing 22nd last season).
When Şengün and Durant are on the floor together, the Rockets are outscoring teams by a whopping 12.5 points per 100 possessions, per Cleaning The Glass.
Although Houston’s historic offensive rebounding prowess and Amen Thompson’s impact on both ends of the court have played a big part in the team’s success, Şengün and Durant — and their ability to work together — have been the driving force behind the Rockets making this experiment work with such an unorthodox approach.
“KD is one of the best players to ever touch a basketball. He opens so much space for us,” Şengün told The Athletic while on a road trip in Memphis. “I’ve never played with so much space in my life. I feel like it’s been easy playing with him.”
In the past, when star tandems have come together, they usually go through a “your turn, my turn” phase as they learn how to complement each other within the offensive scheme. Şengün and Durant have built a chemistry on offense that allows them to use each other’s gravity to create easy looks for themselves and others.
It’s been a new experience for both of them being able to establish that inside-outside connection that draws so much attention from opposing defenses, but they’ve been able to switch spots on the floor and put opponents under the same amount of stress.
One of the Rockets’ go-to plays when they need a bucket has been the most obvious options on the playsheet: a pick-and-roll with Durant on the ball and Şengün as the screener. This puts defenses in a bind: either they allow Durant to come off the screen into an easy pull-up jumper, or they send two defenders at Durant and allow Şengün to work with his excellent passing in four-on-three situations.
They can also invert this pick-and-roll, with Durant as the screener, forcing the big men guarding Şengün to choose between switching onto Durant or giving him enough space for easy pick-and-pops.
Houston can simplify things even more by posting Şengün against certain matchups with Durant as the closest shooter to him on the wing. Either Şengün gets to operate on an island in the post, or the person guarding Durant has to double-team and give up a wide-open 3.
Şengün additionally is shooting a career-best 41.9 percent on 3-pointers this year, so Houston doesn’t mind inverting this action and using Şengün as the floor spacer when Durant (or someone else) posts up against smaller players.
Houston hasn’t been running a lot of complicated actions on offense, because they don’t have to. Şengün and Durant are so good at creating advantages that they can get the ball in space and react to whatever the defense does to crowd that side of the floor.
“We know teams are going to go after Kevin quite a bit. Alpi in the pocket is a great decision-maker and scorer. We invite the double-teams and let Alpi play with the numbers behind it,” Rockets head coach Ime Udoka said. “It’s a good thing for us. Alpi gets doubled in the post; KD gets doubled on the perimeter. It opens up shots for everyone else.
“The chemistry between those guys is really growing.”
Şengün says there’s another factor that has made his partnership with Durant successful early on: trust.
Since his arrival in Houston, Durant has made it a priority to regularly communicate with Şengün about what’s working for them and what needs improvement. He’s also pushed Şengün to take the reins of the offense and not feel obligated to defer to Durant. The early results indicate both players have found a healthy balance to keep defenses guessing.
Through 10 games, Durant has a 25.3 percent usage rate, which would be the lowest of his career. Conversely, Şengün’s usage rate is at 28.7 percent, the highest of his career.
With the added responsibility, Şengün is putting up the best numbers of his career, averaging a career-high 22.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and a career-high 7.2 assists with 49/42/73 shooting splits. The only other player in the NBA averaging 20-plus points, 10-plus rebounds and seven-plus assists is Denver’s Nikola Jokić.
“It means a lot of that he really trusts me. He always tells me to get the ball, and he’ll go with my decision,” Şengün said. “When he came here, he didn’t come in and say, ‘This is my team. The offense runs through me.’ He always tells me I have to be great for us to reach our goal. Hearing that from a guy like him means everything.”
The Rockets have been forced to lean even more on Şengün and others recently because opponents have been relentlessly double-teaming Durant whenever he touches the ball, forcing anyone else in a Rockets uniform to beat them. The double-teams have come frequently and from so many different angles that it’s left the Rockets’ offense discombobulated at certain points as they work to find the right timing and spacing to attack these coverages.
If there’s been one area where the Rockets have struggled the most early in the season, it’s been the untimely turnovers as they work through some of their spacing and timing issues. Despite being second in offensive rating, the Rockets are 27th in turnover percentage, according to Cleaning The Glass. They’ve given at least 20 points off turnovers in five of their 10 games this season, which is usually a formula for disaster.
Houston has made up for some of those lost possessions by dominating the offensive glass, but they understand how important it is to get that under control before the start of the playoffs. The turnover issues reached a new low in the Rockets’ 121-110 loss to the San Antonio Spurs last Friday, a game where Houston gave up 33 points off 24 turnovers. Udoka was so furious with his team’s performance, he said the Spurs “punked” the Rockets that night and that they were the “tougher team.”
As easy as it has looked at times, the Rockets aren’t going to overcome their shortage of traditional ballhandlers without added attention to detail on their spacing and being strong with the ball when teams increase their pressure. Without VanVleet, the Rockets understand this is the area teams will try to attack most. It’ll be an ongoing process for them to find the right answers to exploit that pressure when they can.
“Teams are trying to swarm and take the ball out of me and Alpi’s hands a lot. They’re trying to make the other three guys beat them on the court,” Durant said after the Spurs loss. “They get away from their defensive schemes, come jump the ball, come get their hands on some passes. I’ve got to be more patient and make stronger passes, make better reads.”
Alperen Şengün and Kevin Durant share a pre-game introduction hug before playing against the Dallas Mavericks on Nov. 3. (Thomas Shea / Imagn Images)
The luxury for Houston is that when things do go awry, they can break glass in case of emergency, hand the ball to one of the 10 greatest scorers in league history and let him go to work. It’s a simple solution they don’t want to lean on too much, but it’s tough to go away from it when it’s working. This happened two nights after their loss in San Antonio, when the Rockets traveled to Milwaukee and were struggling through some of the same turnover issues that had plagued them before.
The Rockets fell behind the Bucks by as much as 14 points in the first half, but then decided it was time to let Durant take over. In the second half, Houston ran 14 pick-and-rolls with Durant as the ballhandler, according to Second Spectrum. It’s the most pick-and-rolls Durant has run in the second half of any game this season.
As Durant took control of the offense, he accounted for 22 points and five assists in the second half as the Rockets roared their way back and escaped with a 122-115 victory.
But even while Durant was in the middle of his masterful performance, he knew how important it was to keep Şengün involved. As the Rockets led by two points with a little more than a minute remaining, Durant ran a pick-and-roll with Şengün and dropped a bounce pass to him in the pocket, which resulted in Şengün tossing in a hook shot from five feet out.
On the next Rockets possession, Şengün pulled off perhaps his greatest highlight of the season. He brought the ball up the court with Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo pressuring full court. Şengün shook off Antetokounmpo with a couple slick dribble moves before driving the lane, spinning off Bucks center Myles Turner and banking in an and-1.
As the Bucks crowd went silent, Şengün flexed and stared into the stands before Durant came over and celebrated with him.
WOW! This play by Alperen Sengun, with Giannis chasing him the entire time, puts the nail in the coffin. Incredible move. pic.twitter.com/5dJxVWR22V
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) November 9, 2025
This encapsulated what truly makes Houston such a dangerous team in the Western Conference.
Even though Durant’s arrival got all the attention over the summer, the Rockets have two superstars in the building, and their partnership is already producing elite results.
