Durant struggled in his debut! Rockets were reversed, Shen Jing set a record, Amen retired due to injury, SGA almost won

Editor|Old Kankanqiu

On October 22, the NBA 2025-26 regular season officially started. The Oklahoma City Thunder sat at home and opened their first game against the Houston Rockets. This offseason, the Rockets have strengthened key players such as Durant, Finney-Smith, and Capela. On paper, they have become a T0-level team in the league, aiming for the championship. Obviously, the Rockets' current talent is as good as last year's Thunder, or even worse. The only regret is that starting point guard VanVleet unexpectedly suffered an injury and is expected to be reimbursed for the season, which may be an X factor in the new season.

For the Thunder, after winning the championship last season, the management spent 822 million US dollars to renew contracts with the three giants - Alexander, Jaylen Williams and Holmgren. Obviously, they regard these three people as the cornerstones of the team's future. The most interesting thing is that the Rockets team will not watch the Thunder flag-raising ceremony. Udoka bluntly stated that the goal tonight is to ruin the Thunder's championship night. When Durant made his Thunder home debut wearing a Rockets jersey, he was booed again, which was full of gunpowder.

In terms of the starting lineup for this game, for the Thunder, Jaylin Williams is absent due to injury. The coach’s starting five is: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Alex -Caruso, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Haltenstein; for the Rockets, VanVleet is absent, and the starting lineup is: Kevin Durant, Alperon Shenjing, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr. and Steven Adams.

At the beginning of the first quarter, Chet cut through the basket and scored 2+1, scoring the Thunder's first regular season point. Alexander dangled Adams and went straight to the basket. He tried to get an alley-oop but was intercepted by Shen Jing in the air. Durant counterattacked and caught the ball and completed a two-handed dunk, scoring the first point of his Rockets career. Chet hit a fadeaway jumper against Durant in isolation, and scored 7 points in a row on 3-of-3 starts. Amen Thompson was unbalanced in the air and scored 2+1 after a confrontation. He was able to make a three-pointer after being left open at the top of the arc, and responded immediately with 6 points in a row. Chet turned over in the low post and hit another jump shot. He scored 11 points on 5 of 5. Amen put up a screen to face Harten and scored 2+1. He also scored 10 points. The two really matched up today. Durant European-stepped past the two defenders and made a difficult throw. Then he defended Alexander and sent a one-handed block. He was still wildly booed by the home fans. After the first quarter, the Rockets led the Thunder by 3 points 30-27.

In the first quarter, Chet Holmgren played 8 minutes, made 5 of 5 shots, and scored 13 points.

Back in the second quarter, Shen Jing first assisted Okogie to hit a wide-open three-pointer, and then faced Caruso and hit a three-pointer. He has scored 5 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists. Chet swayed and Ethan stepped aside and hit the line for two more points. Currently, he has scored 18 points on 7-of-7, and the Thunder took the lead. Sheppard made a decisive three-pointer from the top of the arc and hit the board. Durant got away from the defense and hit the iconic mid-range shot again. The Rockets regained their 8-point lead and stopped the Thunder. After the timeout, Alexander accelerated his breakthrough and hit a layup. Mitchell made a sudden stop and flew to Amen before making a three-pointer at the buzzer to score 3+1. At the end of the half, the Thunder trailed the Rockets by 6 points 51-57.

Halftime data, for the Rockets, Durant played 20 minutes and made 6 of 11 shots, 0 of 2 three-pointers, 14 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist; Shen Jing scored 10 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals on 2 of 3 three-pointers; Amen Thompson scored 10 points, 4 assists and 1 steal on 4 of 10 three-pointers, 0 of 5 three-pointers; Shepard scored 6 points, 1 rebound, 1 steal and 1 block on 2 of 4 three-pointers.

For the Thunder, Chet Holmgren played 17 minutes, made 7 of 9 shots, and scored 18 points and 4 rebounds on 4 of 4 free throws. Alexander played 17 minutes, 2 of 5, scored 5 points, 1 assist, and 1 block.

Change sides and fight again. Durant's signature fadeaway pull-up scored 16 points. Amen Thompson faced Chet's hard attack from the backcourt and scored. The Rockets started with a 6-0 lead to 12 points, and stopped the Thunder again. Caruso defended against Shen Jing and completed the break, counterattacked and staged a one-handed gliding dunk. Alexander made continuous pull-up mid-range shots with sudden stops, and the Thunder narrowed the point difference to 6 points. Durant's probing ball was intercepted, Ethan went to the line to catch the ball and was intercepted again. Wallace intercepted three consecutive steals and counterattacked with a heavy dunk, and the Thunder chased to 4 points.

In the final battle of the fourth quarter, Shen Jing made a decisive three-pointer from a long distance and made 5 of 7 three-pointers. Then he caused Holmgren to foul and hit a jump shot to tie the score 2+1. Then he assisted Smith to score easily. He has scored 28 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. The Rockets regained the lead to 6 points. The Thunder completed consecutive steals. After Alexander counterattacked and caused a foul, he stepped away from the defense and made a mid-range shot. The Thunder took the lead. Shen Jing hit Caruso with a back-up shot and Alexander immediately responded with a mid-range shot. The two sides fought to a 104-104 tie in regular time.

In overtime, Chet caught the ball in the corner and made a solid three-pointer. Alexander also made a three-pointer against Amen, and the Thunder led by 6 points. Then Amen accidentally strained his hamstring while blocking the shot and had no choice but to retire. Shen Jing scored consecutively and the two sides drew again. In overtime 2, Alexander went to the free throw line continuously and completed the free throws to complete the victory. In the end, the Rockets suffered a huge reversal from the Thunder, which was a pity.

Full game statistics, for the Rockets, Durant struggled a bit in his debut. He did not perform well in the final quarter and overtime. In the end, he left the game with 6 fouls. He contributed 23 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists; Shen Jing made 5 of 8 three-pointers and scored 39 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 assists. In steals, three-pointers set a new single-game record, and he was the first center in NBA history to score 25+5+5+5 three-pointers in the opening game; Amen Thompson scored 18 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal; Shepard played a disaster, scoring 9 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal on 3-of-11 shooting..

For the Thunder, Chet Holmgren made 10 of 17 shots and scored 28 points and 7 rebounds; Alexander made 12 of 26 and 10 of 14 free throws and scored 35 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 block.