The Rockets‘ season ended on Sunday night when they lost a deciding Game 7 at home against the battle-tested Warriors. As Jonathan M. Alexander of The Houston Chronicle writes, aside from a 38-point outburst in Game 2, shooting guard Jalen Green struggled mightily in his first playoff series, scoring between seven and 12 points in the other six games and shooting 37.5% or below in each of those contests.
Green, who led Houston in scoring (21.0 points per game on .423/.354/.813 shooting splits) during the regular season, averaged just 13.3 PPG during the postseason, with shooting splits (.372/.295/.667) well below his season-long rates. The 23-year-old finished with eight points on 3-of-8 shooting in Game 7.
“Besides the (second) home game, s—,” Green said when asked to assess his performance in the series. “Straight s—. I got to be better. First playoffs is no excuse. Yeah, I’ve got to be better.”
According to Alexander, Warriors defensive stalwart Draymond Green said slowing down Jalen Green was a primary focus for Golden State.
“We did a good job on him to start the series and I think that rattled his confidence a little bit,” said Draymond Green. “This isn’t something he’s been apart of before. He’s good young player. He’ll learn from his mistakes, but you’ve got to give the guys credit who were guarding him. … Anybody who was on him, he was a focal point. We know what they are capable of when he’s scoring and so we really wanted to take him out of this series.”
Houston signed Jalen Green to a three-year, $105MM rookie scale extension last fall. That deal, which also includes a 10% trade kicker, will kick in starting in 2025/26. Given the way the offense — and Green — struggled, there will be “non-stop” questions this offseason about how the Rockets can improve on that end of the court as well as Green’s future with the team, Alexander notes.
Here’s more on the Rockets:
- While the end result certainly wasn’t what he wanted, second-year swingman Amen Thompson continued his strong play to conclude the series after struggling the first few games, per Greg Rahan of The Houston Chronicle. Thompson, who chipped in nine rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block, led the team in scoring (24 points) and was the only Rocket to shoot over 50% from the field (9-of-16) in Game 7. As Rahan writes, Thompson attended Stephen Curry‘s basketball camp growing up in California, and the four-time champion was effusive in his praise of the 22-year-old. “I talked to him right after the game,” Curry said. “I kind of saw him develop in front of everyone’s eyes. I know people (who) watched the Rockets play night in and night out over the last year have seen the potential and raw athleticism, the hunger and he’s a dawg. He showed all seven games and he’s going to be a problem, for sure. He’s going to try to develop his game, especially offensively, but defensively, he’s a freak athlete and I think he loves the challenge and loves to be in the fight. He was tough all series and kind of crazy that the old man got it done.”
- Adding shooting should be a top priority for the Rockets this summer, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic. With several promising young players and a surplus of draft assets, the Rockets will be one of the main teams to follow on the trade market, and they will be “closely” evaluating all their options on that front, Iko reports. Citing team sources, Iko also says Houston is “hopeful” about its chances of having long-term relationships with Tari Eason and Jabari Smith, who are both eligible for rookie scale extensions this summer.
- Greg Rajan and Matt Young of The Houston Chronicle pass along what the Rockets had to say after their season ended, while Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle focuses on what the team learned during the ’24/25 campaign.
- Bobby Marks of ESPN and Mark Deeks of HoopsHype recently previewed Houston’s offseason. Determining what to do with Fred VanVleet‘s team option, possible extensions for Eason and Smith, and re-signing backup center Steven Adams are among the decisions the front office will be faced with this summer.
- In case you missed it, VanVleet and the Rockets have mutual interest in continuing their relationship, though what his contract will look like remains a question mark.
Htown went from 22 to 41 to 52 W
lots to be proud of
Lost to 4 time champs, its a learning exp
Next yr’s a chance to take another big step fwd
@chandlerbing
True, but they need to make good moves in the offseason to improve and not waste their window (like OKC did getting Hartenstein and Caruso).
If they stand pat they won’t get a lot better.
Exactly. Just gotta get rid of loser Dillion Brooks, who will never win a title in this league, and Houston becomes a real-deal contender.
I respect Amen, Sungun, Smith, Eason, Green and Steven Adams, still getting it done. They played the Warriors tougher than anyone, got every cheap whistle while beating the crap out of Steph while GSW got no whistles ever, and ran it to 7 games. From a team who’s mostly youngsters, gotta love this finish this season. The West was too close to call from positions 2-8 this year.
All credit to Steph, Dray and Jimmy though, GSW finishes at least a top 4 team in the West, as only I predicted on here.
Man you gotta get over the over the top Dillon Brooks hate. He’s a good player and helped this team grow over the last two years. Just floors me as a GS fan you can legit hate Brooks to that level while actively rooting for Draymond. Give me a break.
Amen Thompson is def going to be a star … if he ever develops a consistent jumper or 3pt shot, look out.
No kidding – at his age (22) he’s probably the best young sf in the league. Plenty of time to work on shooting, he should be one of maybe 2 Rockets that are untouchable.
I think ones like Cam may be gone over the off season. Jalen perhaps as well can’t have up and down scoring. But who would fit. Reed I am still not sure on as a starter or bench with team.
Will Aaron Holiday still be with team. Jabari and Tari Rockets want to keep I take it. But Rockets did accomplish a lot. Yes went out in first round. If they had played better in some of the games like Game 7. But mostly Game 1 in Houston, and perhaps Game 4 in SF. They lost that one but 3 points. Then came on in games 5/6 to bring it back home for Game 7 but did not play like they wanted it. Could not stop Hield. Curry maybe in first half. Draymond still gets away with his vengence. If it was Brooks they would have tossed him out no matter. Not sure where he stands for next season.
How bout some of the others that played but probably not a lot: Landale, Jeff Green, and some of the others that really do not see much if any time with team unless a blow out either of losing or winning. Williams for one and some others. Yes I know need these players. Are they getting work in the G-League and come up on occasion. Even Tate has not played a lot since days we had that one coach who had a career of being an assistant to the one who is now Indiana Pacers head coach. Think was Dallas Mavericks coach and he was with them. I like Udoka as a coach and his staff. But I do hope we can sign Adams. I like him and Alpi playing together as they did this season. But what will the main rotation be next season.
Do we sign FVV to his 44.5 million deal or does he opt out and we sign for more years but less money. FVV is not getting younger either but still has something with this team. I just hope they do not blow this team up because we do have a nice young core and a Vet Core. Do we find another Vet to add. Or two.
Amen Thompson is a swing man? What position is that?
What’s he swinging on?
They need outside shooting bad. Their 2 best players range can be measured in inches rather than feet (Amen/Sengun)
Green Jabari Lawndale Whitmore for KD math works
Throw in a couple picks you got a stew baby (Rip CW)
@ Cap
I’m not sure I’d trade Jabari for KD, and the Suns won’t want green so there would probably have to be a 3rd team involved.
Yes 3rd team most likely in any regards so both teams take less money and Hou wouldn’t have to be capped at apron 1 ~ Green can def go anywhere, I had Lawndale moving to 3rd team in scenario above but Hou has a ton of routes to chose
Cam is 20 and Ime barely played him in the playoffs. I wouldn’t trade him, too much upside.
But Green should go, no matter what it takes to offload him. FVV is overpaid but is one of the few vets. I’d try to keep Adams but he’s going to have a lot of interest.
Eason, JSJ, and Whitmore are the chips they can use to make a big addition if they wanted to… Booker? Ja?