HOUSTON, TEXAS – DECEMBER 22: Jalen Green #4 of the Houston Rockets goes up for a lay up over Tim … [+]
The Rockets are rolling again, going 3-0 last week. They are now 25-12, two games ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies for sole control of the second seed in the Western Conference. On Sunday, they beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 119-115. On Tuesday, they stomped the woeful Washington Wizards, 135-112. And then on Thursday, they went to Memphis and beat the team on their heels, the Grizzlies, 119-115. Saturday’s game was postponed due to weather conditions in the Atlanta area.
The Rockets come back to Toyota Center on Monday to host a Grizzlies team looking for revenge. On Wednesday, they’ll travel to Denver in a game pitting Rockets center Alperen Sengun against former MVP Nikola Jokic. Then on Thursday, the Rockets will visit a surging Sacramento Kings team which has won six games in a row. Lastly, on Saturday, the Rockets will visit Portland to play the thirteenth seeded Blazers.
The Rockets have done all of this without starting power forward Jabari Smith Jr., sidelined after breaking his non-shooting hand. As of today, the Rockets are fifth in net rating at +6.2, third in defensive rating at 107.0, and up to eleventh in offensive rating at 113.2. The Rockets had hovered around the bottom third in the league in offense all season but are beginning to trend upwards into the top ten leaguewide.
Jalen Green Resurgence
To say that starting shooting guard Jalen Green has been streaky during his career would be an understatement. The former second overall pick has been up and down over four seasons, displaying incredible highs for games at a time before crashing back down to earth. He’s in the midst of one of those runs currently and the Rockets can only hope, once again, that he’s finally turned the corner.
On the season, Green is averaging 20.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, shooting 41.9% overall from the field and 33.6% from long distance. But Green has been absolutely on fire over his last four games, averaging 29.0 points on 48.9% shooting from the floor and 43.8% from long distance on 12 attempts per game. And the production has come against good competition – Boston, Los Angeles, and Memphis, all during that stretch. It has also coincided with forward Amen Thompson’s insertion into the starting lineup, in place of Smith, leading many to theorize that Thompson’s presence serves as a boost to Green in the starting lineup.
In the five games prior to the aforementioned four game stretch, Green had averaged just 18.2 points on 41.2% shooting from the floor and 32.3% from long distance.
With the Rockets continuing to win and hold onto its spot in the standings, and with Sacramento’s recent surge, it’s becoming more likely that Houston won’t make a major blockbuster trade at the deadline. The Rockets had been linked to star guard De’Aaron Fox in recent weeks. They hope that what they are getting from Green is not just another hot stretch but rather the signs of future stability.
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