Kevin Durant Highlights Jabari Smith Jr. as Cornerstone of Rockets’ Small-Ball Look
Kevin Durant publicly praised the Houston Rockets’ small-ball configuration that centers on Jabari Smith Jr. after the team’s 105-101 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. The endorsement matters now because detailed lineup minutes and plus/minus figures show the Durant–Smith pairing has been one of Houston’s most productive groupings this season.
Development details — Jabari Smith Jr. and the Durant pairing
The immediate catalyst was Houston’s first game back from the All-Star break, when Durant scored 35 points on 14-of-20 shooting in a 105-101 win. In his postgame remarks he singled out the team’s success with “small ball, ” a look that regularly features Jabari Smith Jr. alongside Durant and wings such as Amen Thompson. Over the course of the season the Rockets have logged several heavy-minute duos: Smith and Amen Thompson have played 1, 455 minutes together, Durant and Thompson 1, 419 minutes, and Durant and Smith 1, 413 minutes. The Durant–Smith pairing carries the team’s highest aggregate plus/minus at +193.
Per-36 numbers paint a slightly different picture: Durant and Smith sit at +4. 9 per 36. Lineup-level data shows the trio of Durant, Smith and Steven Adams has produced +10. 7 per 36 minutes (+111 over 375 minutes), while Durant, Smith and Alperen Sengun are +4. 3 per 36 (+109 over 913 minutes). By contrast, the Durant–Smith–Clint Capela combination is -0. 8 per 36 (-3 over 143 minutes).
Context and escalation
The praise arrived amid a brief off-court distraction for Durant tied to social-media activity and alleged disparaging comments directed at teammates, including Jabari Smith Jr. That backdrop framed Durant’s postgame emphasis on the small-ball lineup, which could be read as both a basketball assessment and a team-oriented gesture. Complicating Houston’s rotation, Steven Adams, who had been a strong plus/minus contributor, is no longer available to supply the minutes he once did, and the team has leaned more on combinations that feature Durant, Smith, and centers such as Sengun or Capela.
Examining the on-court math shows why the configuration matters. Across 1, 306 minutes when Durant and Smith played with at least one center, the group was +210. Overall the Durant–Smith partnership is +193 across 1, 413 minutes. However, without any center they have been -17 over 107 minutes, an approximately -5. 7 per-36-minute figure, highlighting how the Rockets’ personnel choices shift the pairing’s efficiency.
Immediate impact
Jabari Smith Jr. has been one of the Rockets’ most consistently deployed players this season. He has started in all but 18 of his 265 career NBA games and has averaged more than 30 minutes per outing. This season he has set personal highs in minutes per game (35. 0) and points per game (15. 2) as usage increased with the departures of Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks and Fred VanVleet from the rotation.
Smith’s production has trended upward in February, a turnaround from a difficult January. His free-throw shooting has improved from a season mark of 77. 6 percent to 87. 5 percent in February on 3. 4 attempts per game. He is averaging 16. 4 points per game this month and has reached a 65. 7 percent true shooting rate, figures that reflect better shot selection and higher efficiency on increased volume.
Forward outlook
Immediate milestones to watch are the continuation of the Durant–Smith minutes and whether the Rockets maintain small-ball sets with a frontcourt pairing of Durant and Jabari Smith Jr. that have produced the team’s highest aggregate plus/minus. The team’s rotation will also be shaped by which center combinations are deployed; minutes with Steven Adams previously elevated the duo’s per-36 output, but his absence changes the calculus for which trios deliver the best results.
What makes this notable is how granular lineup data — 1, 413 minutes together for Durant and Smith, specific plus/minus totals for three-man units, and month-by-month shooting splits for Smith — converge to show an operational choice that is both tactical and personnel-driven. The coming games will demonstrate whether the small-ball look that Durant praised can keep producing at similar rates as the Rockets adjust to the current availability of interior pieces.
