On Monday, the Houston Rockets picked up a 120-110 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. This keeps the Rockets at the top of the Western Conference standings with a 4-0 record.

Fred VanVleet contributed five points, four rebounds, and five assists, going 2-for-7 from the field. While his statline from Monday can be seen as underwhelming, VanVleet has had a positive influence as the Rockets’ starting point guard.

During postgame media availability , Hawks coach Quinn Snyder praised VanVleet’s impact as a leader.

“He’s such a unique leader. I have a ton of respect for him. He’s one of those guys, as a coach, that you can watch play and appreciate what he does… his playmaking ability is probably underrated as a defender. He’s not six-foot-six but he’s really tough. As I said, he impacts the game in so many ways as a leader.”

The Return

This season, VanVleet is averaging 8.3 points and 7.0 assists per game. He missed the latter part of Houston’s first back-to-back.…