As the Houston Rockets entered the season, their most pressing issue was crystal clear: their lack of a bona-fide offensive facilitator in the absence of starting point guard Fred VanVleet.
While, through their first two games, this issue played itself out in dramatic fashion, with both Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard struggling to keep control of the ball against pressure from opposing defenses, their combined 16 assists against the Brooklyn Nets provide a glimmer of hope for the ceiling this offense can still reach without VanVleet.
Although the team will, undoubtedly, still need to lean into players like Alperen Sengun and Kevin Durant to take over some of this workload, Sheppard and Thompson flashed what many optimists hoped they could be this season: capable enough ball-handlers to keep the offense going.