Jalen Green #4 of the Houston Rockets dribbles against Buddy Hield #7 of the Golden State Warriors during the third quarter in Game Four of the Western Conference First Round NBA Playoffs at Chase Center on April 28, 2025 in San Francisco, California.
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Jalen Green was the best player on the floor in Game 2 against the Warriors at the Toyota Center last week. He was barely noticeable on the court at Chase Center in San Francisco during each of the Houston Rockets’ last two games.
Green, who erupted for 38 points in Houston’s lone win to date in this first-round series, finished with nine points in a Game 3 loss on Saturday, then just eight points in Monday’s 109-106 loss. His lack of scoring wasn’t the only concern; Green tallied only three rebounds and one assist in 25 minutes. He didn’t tally a single point, rebound or assist in the fourth quarter and did not return to the floor after being pulled by head coach Ime Udoka with 4:58 remaining.
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The 22-year-old guard displays tantalizing talent as a scorer. However, his efficient performances are too few and far between, accompanied by at best mediocre production as a playmaker and defender. Green’s game is polarizing, attracting numerous supporters and a wave of critics. TNT’s Charles Barkley was part of the latter group late Monday night.
“Before you can become a great player, and Ime talked about it, you gotta do the stuff to help your team,” Barkley said on the Inside the NBA postgame show. “He gets in a fog when he’s not scoring, and he’s just out.”
“Think about this: this is a guy who we were bragging about all season, it’s gonna be close on him making the All-Star team,” Barkley continued. “He’s had single digits three out of four games. He had 38 in one game, and single digits the other three. That can’t happen. That cannot happen.”
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Barkley, an NBA Hall of Famer and one of the greatest forwards of all time, was frustrated by Green’s poor output. Shaquille O’Neal offered a placid defense, noting that nearly all young players need to experience “growing pains” in the postseason. The most prudent note of the night regarding Green’s performance was from former 1990s Rockets champion Kenny Smith.
Charles Barkley rips the Houston Rockets after a hard-fought NBA Cup victory against the Golden State Warriors.
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“You guys had a dominance that might be different,” Smith said of O’Neal and Barkley. “But for a guy like myself, or a guy like Jalen who is trying to get to [your level], I always said, ‘you have to come to the arena knowing you’d do three things regardless [of your scoring].”
Smith noted that he always relied on pressuring the ball as a defender, pushing the pace in transition and finding open spots as a three-point shooter. Those tools made “Jet” a more bankable piece than Green’s offerings at present.
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“When I look at Jalen, he has much more offensive things in his tool belt than myself,” Smith said. “But he should come into the arena saying I’m going to do these three things.”
Monday night marked the lowest point of Green’s season, which likely ended the Rockets’ hopes of advancing past the Warriors. Can Houston at least send this series back to the Bay with a win in Game 5 on Wednesday? Perhaps a return to familiar surroundings can bring out the best in Houston’s former No. 2 overall pick.
