The Houston Rockets fell prey to the Golden State Warriors for the third time in their first-round series on Monday night via a score of 109-106. However, it was not because of the lack of effort from point guard Fred VanVleet.

The diminutive Wichita State Shockers product was among the bright spots for Houston in the team's Game 4 loss to Jimmy Butler and company, as he dropped 25 points on an efficient 8-for-13 shooting from the floor. He also hit eight of his 12 tries from behind the arc to tie an NBA Playoffs career-high. He also had eight makes from deep when he was still with the Toronto Raptors in a 2020 NBA postseason game against the Brooklyn Nets — also in the first round.

Also, the 31-year-old VanVleet's performance in Game 4 of the Warriors series was reminiscent of his heroic showing for the Raptors in the 2019 NBA Finals against the Golden State.

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It can be recalled that VanVleet had an awful start to the 2019 NBA Playoffs. During the first two rounds of that postseason, VanVleet averaged just 4.2 points while shooting an atrocious 27.6 percent from the field and 20.0 percent from 3-point distance across 12 games versus the Orlando Magic and the Philadelphia 76ers. His woes continued into the first three games of the Eastern Conference finals against the Milwaukee Bucks, during which he averaged just 3.3 points on a 20.0 field goal percentage.

But by Game 4 of the Bucks series, VanVleet started to find his rhythm. In the final three games of that series, he torched Milwaukee for 16.0 points while draining 14 of his 3-point attempts. He carried that terrific outside shooting form into the NBA Finals versus the Warriors, where he averaged 14.0 points and sank 40.0 percent of his tries from deep. In the title-clinching Game 6, VanVleet had 22 points with five 3-pointers to help Toronto bring home its first-ever NBA championship.

The Rockets need VanVleet to have that kind of performance — if not better — on Wednesday when their series against Golden State shifts back to Houston for Game 5. Facing elimination, VanVleet and the Rockets can't afford to have a cold spell on offense and a subpar effort on defense if they are to fight for at least one more game in the 2025 NBA Playoffs.