Jalen Green was dubbed the X-factor in the Rockets vs. Warriors series by several analysts. As the Rockets’ leading scorer for the regular season, Green had a lot of expectations on his shoulders. However, he failed to meet those expectations in the Playoffs.
After the Rockets exited the Playoffs following their Game 7 loss to the Warriors, Jalen Green spoke to the media to reflect on his performance. “I gotta be better. First Playoffs isn’t an excuse”, he said.
Other than Game 2, where Green had 38 points, he struggled to produce in every single game of this series. Including the 7-point performance in Game 7, his total for the rest of the series was 55 points. Therefore, he only averaged 13.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in all seven games combined. In comparison, Jalen Green averaged 21.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in 82 games of the regular season. This shows how drastically his performance dropped during the Playoffs.
Jalen Green No Longer The Franchise Player In Houston?
The Warriors consistently doubled and blitzed Green in the series. As the highest scorer on the team, it was natural that he was among the top priorities on their scouting report. However, the Game 2 performance showed that Green could counter such defenses. After Game 2, Green confessed that the pressure of the Playoffs got to him in Game 1. But seeing the end result of this series, it seems as if the lights were indeed too bright for Jalen Green, and he had no answer for the Warriors.
Amen Thompson, on the other hand, stepped up and provided that second offensive option for the Rockets when both Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green failed to deliver. His defensive prowess had already put the league on notice throughout the regular season. After this series, Amen has shown that even in the highest-pressure moments, he does not fail to deliver on both ends of the floor. Some might say if he develops a three-point shot, he could be in the MVP conversation in the upcoming years. Besides his shooting ability, Thompson does not seem to have a weakness in his game.
Moreover, in the closing moments of the game, Udoka often trusted Thompson with the ball to make the right play. Whereas he was benched in Games 3 and 4 during the crucial moments of the game. This raises a question of whether the coaching staff is losing faith in Green’s abilities.
In my opinion, while the lack of a Playoff is not an excuse as Green said, this season marked the stage where the Rockets took a leap from a rebuilding team to a contender team. This means that they are likely to look for a superstar piece in the offseason to complete a legitimate title-contending team. And when the team is at a stage when they are evaluating their options, Jalen’s performance makes him vulnerable to being traded if such a deal were to successfully go through.
Therefore, this offseason marks a critical stage in Green’s career at Houston. If the Rockets end up taking another chance on him, then he will have to take the superstar leap next season before he becomes the public’s enemy in Houston.
