Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka revealed that Kevin Durant will start at shooting guard against the Oklahoma City Thunder in what will be a taller lineup.

The Rockets, who finished second in the Western Conference, travel to the home of the defending champions for the NBA season opener on Tuesday.

The two leading teams in the West met five times last season, taking two wins each in the regular season while the Thunder won in the NBA Cup semi-finals.

Six-foot-eleven Durant goes up against his former side, starting the game as a guard, while Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun and Steven Adams make up the rest of the Rockets starting five.

Houston also used this starting lineup in their pre-season victory against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Udoka explained why he believes his taller lineup can both help them in their matchup against the Thunder and get the best out of Sengun.

“This is personnel driven and opponent driven as well,” said Udoka.

“So not just about what they did, although they were good in their minutes, but it’s obviously a lot to do with OKC as well.

first stop of the season: OKC  pic.twitter.com/kU1MqeYqAZ

— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) October 20, 2025

“I think he’s [Sengun] a little more aggressive on the perimeter.

“Offensively, I think he’s a really good passer that works well with the other big in the dunker. You’ve seen that with Amen in the past, and obviously Steven.

“And then he’s all over the court anyway, so we move around a lot, so he’s not traditionally playing like a five when he’s at the five, so he can still do the same thing.”

Sengun averaged 19.1 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists on 49.6% field goal in the 2024-25 regular season as the Rockets announced themselves as title challengers.