On Monday, the Rockets demolished the Brooklyn Nets at the Toyota center in Houston 137-109, and the bench showed what they could do, even without Kevin Durant on the court to lead them. Head coach Ime Udoka capitalized on rotations of his younger bench to disrupt the Nets’ starting lineup, rather than relying so heavily on the supersized starting five to carry. 

Josh Okogie made his debut start in a Rockets jersey in place of Steven Adams, and proved he deserved the spot when the opponent’s offensive strategy calls for it. Okogie brought intense physicality from the jump, and wasn’t the guy any Net wanted guarding him in man-to-man.. He kept Brooklyn’s star shooter to just 9 points- down from the 40 he put up during their last game in San Antonio against the Spurs. 

Reed Sheppard was patient and confident. “I’m comfortable shooting from about anywhere on the floor,” he said in his postgame interview.  His performance was the best seen from him so far this regular season. Sheppard contributed 15 points shooting 54.5-percent from the field and made three threes,  per NBA. He also surpassed his career high contributing eight assists. One of Sheppard’s key highlights was an incredible steal and dunk that looked natural and just easy for him.  

Tari Eason stole the show, making a major comeback. Eason put up 20 points in the first half, including sinking five three-pointers- a career high. He shot at about 66.7-percent from the field and 71.4-percent for threes, per NBA. 

In the third quarter, Durant got in foul trouble, but the bench proved their depth. The whole team finally looked like a cohesive unit between the starters and the bench, rather than a few guys supporting their star shooters. 

This time around, the Rockets set the tempo of the game- pulling down rebounds, scoring second-chance shots, and not giving the Nets’ offense an opportunity to compete. From the beginning of the second quarter in particular, Houston just did not let up on defense and ran offensive drills with ease. 

The team as a whole looked cleaner, sharper, and more like a cohesive team with complementing skillsets. The Rockets had only ten turnovers, whereas within the last two games they combined 39. It’s clear that it’s clicking for the young rising stars on the bench when to lean on Alperen and Durant and when to attack themselves. 

It’s likely we’ll see more from Okogie, Sheppard, and Eason, in particular, as the season progresses and as their skillsets continue to improve. Now that Houston has a win like this under their belts, they have an opportunity to channel that confidence into momentum- and start looking like the contender out West they’re built to be.