At 6-1, the Rockets are off to their best seven-game start since the 2014-15 season, when they finished second in the Western Conference and advanced to the conference finals. They are 2-0 against San Antonio and Oklahoma City and swept a home-and-home series against the Hawks, the only team to push the Knicks to six games during last year’s postseason. Houston has accomplished all of this without playing a game at full strength.

Here are the five biggest winners from the Rockets’ impressive start:

The Offense

The Rockets lead the NBA in offensive efficiency through seven games for the second straight season, and while this season’s 121.2 offensive rating is lower than last season’s, this year’s number feels more sustainable. 

Last year’s team was making 42.7% of their three-pointers at this point last season with a 40% offensive rebounding rate, while attempting 31.7 free throws. Through seven games this season the Rockets are making 39% of their free throws, but their offensive rebounding rate is only 35.5%, and they are attempting just 27.6 free throws per game.

The Rockets are also not having to rely so much on Kevin Durant. He is averaging two fewer points while playing two fewer minutes, but his field goal attempts are down from 16.3 per game to 13.1. Per NBA.com tracking data, Durant’s overall touches per game are down almost 20% from 60.4 to 48.4, and he’s gone from 41 front court touches to 37. They are simply putting fewer miles on the 38-year-old, and the offense has not suffered.

It’s not as if Houston has feasted on poor defenses, either. The Rockets have played just one game against a team ranked outside the top 17 in defensive rating.

Jabari Smith Jr.

Smith scored 30 points against the Mavericks on opening night, and outside the next game in San Antonio, he has kept that heater going through the season’s first seven games. Smith is averaging 19 points per game, but he’s doing it while shooting 49% from the field and 44.7% from behind the three-point line. 

Smith shot 43.7% from the field and 34.7% from behind the three-point line through the first four seasons of his NBA career

His free throw shooting has also improved by more than 10 percentage points and he’s getting to the line 33% more so far this season than last season.

Amen Thompson’s Defensive Player of the Year Campaign

Thompson’s block of Victor Wembanyama at the buzzer is probably the NBA’s signature play so far this season. Wembanyama remains the heavy favorite to win award for league’s top defender, but Thompson should at the very least make an all-defense team after he missed out last season.

Alperen Sengun

It’s possible no one has benefitted more from Fred VanVleet’s return than Sengun. Despite missing two games due to low back soreness, Sengun is averaging 22.8 points, 9 rebounds and 7.4 assists so far this season. He is shooting 53.2% from the field, 71% from inside the restricted area. He’s shooting a career-best 75% from the free throw line while getting to the line more than ever.

Why has VanVleet’s return had such an impact? Instead of bringing the ball up and initiating the offense himself, Sengun can now focus on getting to his spot while trusting VanVleet to get him the ball in advantageous situations. 

“Last year I had to do all that stuff,” Sengun said after scoring 29 points on Monday against the Hawks. “Now I can get the rebound, give it to Fred, run and get to my spot. We play faster too. I don’t have to run back and forth, back and forth. I get the rebound, we push the ball.”

Rafael Stone

Stone could’ve done something drastic in the aftermath of the Rockets’ disappointing playoff exit. Such a move would have been cheered by a large portion of the team’s frustrated fanbase, but Stone stayed the course. Aside from moving Dorian Finney-Smith’s salary, the Rockets made no trades. Stone re-signed restricted free agent Tari Eason and added veteran guards Marcus Smart and Bogdan Bogdanovic.

That was essentially the extent of the Rockets’ offseason. Stone believed the roster he assembled entering last season was good enough to compete at the NBA’s highest level, and he stuck to that belief.

Not only are the Rockets positioned to contend for the championship they’ve coveted for more than 30 years, but they could also wind up with two lottery picks in June’s draft while retaining control of their first-round picks through the first half of the next decade.