The lineup change The name Udoka leads to a feat last seen in 1973

The Houston Rockets spent much of the past nine months relying on his own double size lineuponly to go down in history when they went the other way.

Houston opened the season 0-2 with Steven Adams in the starting lineup, setting the highest starting five in NBA history. Then the head coach Making Udoka traded Adams for the more athletic Josh Okogie, as the Rockets immediately set a different kind of record.

With Okogie in the lineup, Houston has gone 2-0, scoring 137+ points in each game – something they haven’t done since 1973. Still, Udoka isn’t ready to make the change permanent.

It wasn’t all Okogie now, as the double-major lineup was on the floor as the Rockets pulled away from the Raptors in the final six minutes of Wednesday’s win.

“It went perfect,” Udoka said after the game. “Either we’re going to make it, they’re going to get a rebound or put some of our guys out. So, yeah, that was a good thing for us.”

Before the game, Udoka explained that he likes the bigger lineup because of its ability to rebound on the offensive end, which he calls the “first layer of transition defense,” as it discourages opponents from leaking out on offense.

Those offensive rebounds also led to two 3-pointers by Kevin Durant on second-chance opportunities down the stretch, courtesy of Adams.

Still, it’s hard to ignore The Rockets offense looked much better this week (even against lesser competition) with Okogie on the floor, as Houston has managed a No. 1 offensive rating through the first four games.

Moreover, Udoka, the defensive coach, may also begin to favor Okogie in the lineup for what he brings on that end of the floor. While Adams is great on the offensive glass, it has made the Rockets more vulnerable defensively at times. Especially when deploying their 2-3 zone and the amount of open shots she allowed on the perimeter.

The Rockets’ offensive surge was neutralized in the first half by a barrage of 3-pointers by the Raptors, many of which were open looks.

On the offensive end, as valuable as Adams is, Okogie helps with pace as well as spacing, opening up the floor for other playmakers. And the results have been sharp: The Rockets have scored a combined 215 points in regulation over their first two games, compared to 276 in the two games since the roster change.

“I think I’ve been pretty open about the possibility of a trade with the lineup,” Udoka explained Wednesday on SportsTalk 790, the Rockets’ flagship radio station. “We like a big lineup, we played with it a little bit in the preseason, but Reed (Shepard) will get opportunities sometimes. If they have two really good scorers, maybe we’ll go defensive with Josh (Okogie) guarding one of them and Amen (Thompson) guarding the other.”

“And so we can go a variety of ways honestly and I’m very comfortable with that and I think the guys are ready for that … and at some point, when we’re completely complete, we’ll kind of fit into one thing and it could be Dorian (Finney-Smith) at the time, it could be big like we did (the first two games) or Reed gives us options at the back.”

Much like a good NFL team in September, the Rockets can use these first few weeks to grind and figure things out in the long run.