Subscribe
Follow Us
The Houston Rockets pieced together a remarkable season that saw them finish with a 52-30 record to secure the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. Unfortunately, their campaign came to an end after the Golden State Warriors defeated them in seven games to send them home in the first round of the playoffs.
Historically, Stephen Curry and the Warriors have been the franchise's tormentors in the postseason. Houston once again failed to exorcise these ghosts, even if this is an entirely different Golden State team reinforced by trade deadline acquisition Jimmy Butler. With the Rockets postseason run over, let's take a look at who deserves the most blame for their early playoff exit at the hands of the Warriors.
Jalen Green
Jalen Green has been one of the pillars for the Rockets' rising core. Prior to the 2024-25 season, Houston inked him to a three-year, $105 million contract extension, cementing their faith in the rising star. Initially, he played well during the regular season, averaging 21 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game, but Green failed to deliver the goods in his playoff debut.
The Rockets first-round matchup against the Warriors was the perfect stage for Green to unlock a whole new level to his game. But with exception to his 38-point explosion in Game 2, he was a non-factor in the series. Green averaged 13.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game while shooting only 37.2% from the field in this seven-game set. His shooting percentage is currently dead last among qualified players in the postseason this year.
There's no doubt that Houston missed out on Green's usual shot creation, especially when their offense was struggling to score. Given that Green is a one-dimensional scorer, the Warriors kept him ineffective, as he struggled throughout the series to get his points. In fact, Green was held to single digit scoring totals in four of the seven games. Green wasn't exactly happy with his struggles in this series, but luckily for him, Rockets general manager Rafael Stone isn't giving up on the 23-year-old star just yet.
Alperen Sengun
Like Green, Alperen Sengun was expected to be a major contributor in this series, especially with the Warriors' thin frontcourt rotation. While Sengun did play relatively well, the Turkish big man had all the tools to do a little more damage.
In his first playoff series, Sengun averaged 20.9 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game. However, he only shot 45% from the field overall and 62.5% from the free throw line.
Although Sengun looked unstoppable in some sequences, the 6-foot-11 center's inexperience manifested itself when he matched up against former NBA Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green in the post. While Sengun often leaned on size to his advantage, Green once again proved why he was the main anchor to the Warriors dynasty on the defensive side of the ball. With his lack of size against Sengun, Green used his physicality and superior defensive tenacity to make the Rockets center uncomfortable.
Similar to Green, this was Sengun's first taste of the postseason, and while it wasn't exactly explosive, Houston still has a bright future with him at their disposal.
Dillon Brooks
It's safe to say that Dillon Brooks was penciled in to be the Rockets' X-factor coming into the series. He was the ideal pesky defender to throw at the likes of Curry and Butler, but he couldn't keep his foot on the gas pedal.
Brooks averaged 12.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game. He was easily a disruptor, getting under the skin of the Warriors' stars, even drawing a technical foul out of a usually calm Curry. The Rockets forward was also accused of targeting Curry's injured thumb while defending him on several occasions. Without Brooks, it would have been difficult for Houston to claw back into the series.
However, it was clear that the seven-game series wore out the polarizing two-way player. In Game 6, Brooks mustered only three points on 1-of-5 shooting. And in the closeout game, he tallied only eight points while converting only 3-of-9 shots from the field.
Defensively, it was the same story. In the deciding Game 7, Golden State's shooters were pretty much unbothered by Brooks. Buddy Hield erupted for 33 points, spiked by nine 3-pointers. On the other hand, Curry netted 22 points with four 3-point makes.
With the dust settled, Warriors' stars weren't done expressing their displeasure of Brooks. While that's nothing new for Brooks, a bigger impact from him given all his shenanigans would have been nice to see.
