Houston is 5-0, seeded first and three games ahead of 11th place, and it has won every game without its full rotation. The numbers show the depth is real, but they do not yet show where the ceiling is.
Last season
The baseline is 52-30. Last season's net rating of 5.4 ranked sixth, the offense ranked eighth and the defense fifth. It ended in a first-round loss to the Lakers after Houston came back from 0-3 to force a Game 6. That is the bar for this start. Five games cannot overturn 82, but they do suggest a roster built around a 38-year-old Durant has not slipped.
October 21-26
Number one: 5-0. The first four wins came by 18, 4, 7 and 10 points, and Sengun scored 29 twice, at San Antonio and at home against Atlanta. Two road wins by seven or fewer make the record look cleaner than the margins. Being three games ahead of 11th place protects nothing yet, with 77 games left to play.
October 28
Number two: 32, the margin in the 132-100 win at Milwaukee, built on a 34-14 second quarter and a 35-point peak lead with Sengun sidelined. Number three: plus-23, shared by Jabari Smith Jr., Clint Capela and Bogdan Bogdanovic. Bogdanovic shot 5-6, including 4-5 from three, in 15 minutes. The bench scored 40 to the starters' 84. One lopsided night does not prove the second unit can hold up against Oklahoma City.
This week
Number four: $205.5 million, roughly $5.1 million above the $200.4 million tax line. Durant at $43.9 million and Sengun at $35.6 million make up most of that bill, and VanVleet's $25.0 million includes a player option. The money has bought depth that has covered for Sengun, Marcus Smart and Steven Adams. It has not bought flexibility: the 2028 and 2030 firsts are the only first-round picks Houston fully owns.
October 30
Number five: 82-0, the pace the start projects to, which shows how simple the math is and nothing else. Friday in Dallas starts a back-to-back, with the Thunder at home the next night. Sengun and Smart both have a listed return of October 30, and Adams is targeted for November 2. Dallas is 3-2 and without Dereck Lively II and Santi Aldama.
Will Alperen Sengun play against the Mavericks?
Sengun is no longer ruled out. His back now carries a listed return date of October 30, the day Houston plays in Dallas.
Are the Rockets over the luxury tax in 2026-27?
Yes. Houston's $205.5 million payroll is above the $200.4 million luxury tax line.
