The Houston Rockets had a bittersweet start to the 2025-26 NBA season, going toe-to-toe with the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder before ultimately coming up short in a game that took two overtimes to sort out.

GAME RECAP: Rockets fall to reigning champion Thunder in double overtime heartbreaker on opening night, 125-124

Despite the unpleasant 125-124 outcome, we learned a lot about the squad we will see take the floor for 81 more games — and hopefully a lot more after that.

Here’s what we learned:

The ultra-tall lineup was fun, but the Rockets are clearly missing Fred VanVleet

In abject defiance of the small-ball lineup the Rockets utilized in the Mike D’Antoni era, Houston started this season with a super tall starting five. The cast of Amen Thompson, Kevin Durant, Jaba

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