The Rockets earned themselves a lifeline Wednesday night as the Golden State Warriors failed to close out the series in Houston. The 131-116 win over Stephen Curry and Co., however, doesn’t mean the Rockets are out of trouble.
Advertisement
The Warriors lead the series 3-2, and the next game is again an elimination one for Houston. And while the lackluster team performance has been a problem for the Rockets, Jalen Green being off the boil is their biggest worry.
The 23-year-old has been awfully quiet in this series. He had one good outing in Game 2, where he scored 38 points with 4 rebounds and 6 assists. Other than that, it has been a forgettable run from Green, who is averaging just 14.6 points per game. While there is no clear explanation on what has caused this decline, Dwight Howard has come up with a theory.
On an episode of Above The Rim with DH12, the former Laker said that Green is putting all his energy into guarding Curry. So he has nothing left in the tank to produce some magic.
“He’s probably tired than a mother****r from chasing that dog in Curry all around the court,” said Howard, who believes that it’s not easy for anyone to be at their 100% while going against the Warriors.
This would’ve been an acceptable explanation if Green was actually the primary guard against Steph.
Forward Amen Thompson is Steph’s primary defender, and he is the one chasing around the Warriors veteran. So, with this excuse out of the picture, there’s no good explanation for what has caused this disastrous run from Green.
Even Charles Barkley has been scratching his head about it. Following the Rockets’ Game 4 loss earlier, Chuck had called out the Rockets’ star. Barkley was perplexed by how a player, who was almost an All-Star, went from a 38-point night to 8-point showings.
And as far as Curry is concerned, in peak form, his presence would offset the best of players and teams.
Curry isn’t an easy player to defend
Steph is arguably the most well-conditioned player in the NBA. His fitness at 37 is remarkable. Coupled with that, his skill set and scoring prowess make it difficult for any defender to successfully mark him.
His personal trainer, Brandon Payne, ensures that Curry goes through some rigorous drills designed to improve his overall skills instead of focusing solely on physical conditioning. Nobody praises Steph’s conditioning better than his head coach, Steve Kerr.
“He just doesn’t get enough credit for his level of conditioning, physicality, and defense. People go at him to try to wear him down because they know how important he is to us offensively, and it’s pretty dramatic the difference in Steph’s strength and physicality and his body now than from eight years ago when I first got here,” Kerr had said during the 2022 NBA Finals.
Kerr may have a bias, we would imagine. But then he isn’t the only head coach in awe of Steph. Mavs head coach Jason Kidd also said that Steph is “the best-conditioned athlete in the NBA” during the Western Conference Finals.
