When Fred VanVleet joined the Houston Rockets in 2023, they were one of the worst teams in the NBA having won just 42 games combined in the previous two seasons. Now they’re back in the playoffs for the first time since 2020, finishing a rebuild completed under the guidance of coach Ime Udoka and with a big assist from VanVleet’s veteran leadership. The Rockets are the second seed in the Western Conference and open their best-of-seven first round series against No. 7 seed Golden State on Sunday night in Houston. It will be Houston’s first playoff series since 2020, when they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the conference semifinals.