Heading into the 2024-25 season, one area of ​​the Houston Rockets’ offense has been talked about more than anyone else: three-point shooting. Over the last few seasons, the Rockets have been one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the NBA.

Last season, Houston finished in the bottom 10 in this category again and knew this was the area that needed the most improvement. The Rockets drafted Reed Sheppard, who became the nation’s best three-point shooter during his one year at Kentucky. They were also getting back Tari Eason, who had a good year from beyond the arc in his rookie season.

After six games into the new season, Houston’s three-point shooting remains unchanged from last season. They are currently in 22nd place in the position where they finished last season. But the Rockets are performing well in other areas as well; He is in the top 10 in opponent scoring, in the top five in rebounding, and he also scores offensively. It is in the middle of the pack.

These numbers should have gotten the Rockets off to a better start to the season than their 3-3 record. If you look deeper into the numbers, one area on offense shows why Houston doesn’t have a better record.

The Rockets currently sit last in two-point field goal percentage just six games into the season. They had significant difficulty shooting from inside the three-point line; Only five players managed to shoot over 44 percent from two-point range.

One player, Cam Whitmore, only plays 11 minutes per game, and Steven Adams has only played in one game all season. To give an idea of ​​how bad the Rockets’ two-point shooting was, compare it to last season.

Last season, the Rockets ranked 20th in two-point shooting but shot over 53% from three-point range. The only player to shoot under 45% from inside the arc all season was Nate Hinton, who played just 11 games all season.

This season, the Rockets have eight players below that mark. A lot has been made about Alperen Şengün’s offensive efforts. Yes, he’s going through career slumps and needs to move on for the Rockets offense to improve, but that doesn’t just apply to Sengun.

The fact that every Rockets starter has shot well below their 2023-24 targets has put the team in a difficult position in every game this season. Fred VanVleet, in particular, had difficulty in the painted area. The Rockets need to improve their two-point shooting as their three-point shooting percentage looks set to be the same as last season.

The Rockets get back on their winning streak when they face the New York Knicks on Monday night at Toyota Center.

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