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On Wednesday evening, the Houston Rockets tied up their first round series with the Golden State Warriors as the series shifts to the Bay Area. While the big story coming out of this one was an injury to Warriors star Jimmy Butler, the Rockets got a much-needed 38-point performance from shooting guard Jalen Green, who bounced back from a rough Game 1 with an epic display.
Green had come under heavy criticism for his seven-point showing on Sunday evening to open the series, but he's now feeling the love after eviscerating the Warriors' defense Wednesday night. Recently, former Warriors big man DeMarcus Cousins took to the “Run It Back” show to give Green his flowers.
“The scary part about it is… He's still learning how to play this game. He's still not a finished product… Once he finds consistency, he's gonna be a star in this league,” said Cousins.
Every aspect of Green's deep scoring bag was on display in Game 2, including high-flying dunks, effortless three balls, and picturesque midrange jumpers.
Green also got plenty of help from his Rockets teammates, who collectively played much more efficient basketball than they did in Game 1.
An intriguing series out west
The biggest question heading forward in this series regards the status of Butler, who took a hard fall on his tailbone in the first half of Game 2 after being run into by Rockets forward Amen Thompson. Rockets and Warriors fans disagree on whether Thompson was pushed into Butler by Warriors forward Draymond Green or whether the contact occurred on his own volition.
In any case, if Butler were to miss time, it would give the Rockets a major opportunity to regain home court advantage in this series after they relinquished it in Game 1. The Warriors' offense seemed to fall off a cliff once Butler went back to the locker room, forcing head coach Steve Kerr to use a Motley crew of untested lineups that predictably didn't produce at a high clip.
If Jalen Green can continue his sizzling performance from Game 2, the Rockets could be back in the driver's seat of this series.
