Houston split its two preseason meetings with Dallas, winning the opener and dropping the rematch by 17. The numbers that matter now sit off the scoreboard: a payroll above the tax threshold, a shot profile built around Durant, and lineup data that already points toward the group Ime Udoka wants closing games.
$205.5M payroll, $200.4M tax threshold
Houston carries $205.5 million in salary, about $5 million over the $200.4 million luxury tax threshold and still shy of the $209.0 million first apron. Durant's $43.9 million anchors the number, with Sengun at $35.6 million and VanVleet's $25.0 million player option behind him. It proves spending intent. It does not prove the roster is finished — three more seasons of swapped first-round picks say the front office is still managing flexibility, not just cost.
26.0 points, 41.3 percent on threes
Durant averaged 26.0 points last season at 41.3 percent on threes, the shooting profile Houston's offense is built around at 38. Those marks held across 78 games and 36.4 minutes a night, proof the volume and accuracy survive a full season. They do not prove he can carry that same workload at 38 with VanVleet and Sengun both sidelined to open camp.
+21.7 per hundred, 66 minutes
Houston's best five-man group last season, Durant, Capela, Smith, Eason and Sheppard, outscored opponents by 21.7 points per hundred possessions, an offense of 109.3 against a defense of 87.6. That is a real number over a real sample. It is also only 66 minutes, nowhere near enough to call it the closing lineup before Udoka has used it once in October.
Split in Dallas: 135-117, then 115-132
The Rockets beat the Mavericks 135-117 on Oct. 9 then lost the rematch 115-132 on Oct. 11, a 12-lead-change game that got away in the second quarter on two separate Dallas runs. Marcus Smart led the loss with 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting. Neither score says much with Sengun, VanVleet, Durant and Adams all held out of the second game.
52-30, plus-5.4 last season
Last season Houston finished 52-30 with an offense at 117.5, a defense at 112.1 and a scoring margin of plus-5.4, sixth-best in the league. That record got them a six-game first-round exit to the Lakers. The number says this team is built to win in the regular season; it says nothing yet about whether an 0-0 preseason sample changes that answer in the playoffs.
Is Kevin Durant still the focal point of the Rockets' offense?
Yes. He averaged 26.0 points last season at 41.3 percent on threes, and Houston's shot profile is still built around getting him those looks.
Are the Rockets over the luxury tax this season?
Their payroll sits at $205.5 million, about $5 million above the $200.4 million luxury tax threshold and below the $209.0 million first apron.
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