Jalen Green’s growth is boosting the Rockets. Can he stay on this flight path?

HOUSTON — As Jalen Green charged through the tunnel, letting out unrivaled joy and bravado en route to the Houston Rockets’ locker room, his aura spoke louder than the Toyota Center crowd still reveling in a virtuoso performance.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaah!” Green bellowed from the doldrums of the arena, his fists balled in victory. “Aaaaaaaaaah!!”

At this moment, two things were made clear in a season that has continued to defy the odds and exceed expectations at every turnstile. The Rockets, who had just defeated the Memphis Grizzlies for the second time in five days, were now unrecognizable from the franchise that dwelled at the bottom for so long in the not-so-distant past. And this wasn’t the same Green.

Not anymore.

On Monday night, Green torched a top-five Grizzlies defense to the tune of 42 points on 13-of-18 shooting in a thrilling 120-118 win, marking his second-straight high-efficiency performance against one of the NBA’s stingiest oppositions (Green scored 27 points on 11-of-21 shooting on Thursday against Memphis).

Jalen Green scores 42 points on 72.2 FG% in the @HoustonRockets W!

He joins Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players in Rockets history to total 40+ PTS on at least 70 FG% in a game before turning 23 pic.twitter.com/F8PwLys5Sg

— NBA (@NBA) January 14, 2025

The 22-year-old guard has seen his fair share of hot streaks through his first three seasons in the NBA. For young, gifted talents, it’s the consistency that eludes them the most — and oftentimes becomes the development within the development. How to become better, longer.

Up until now, the most prominent, devastating version — or evolution, really — of Green arrived last March. But even that scorching month — when he averaged 27.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists on .492/.408/.767 splits — wasn’t truly organic. It was born out of necessity. The Rockets had been a fun story all season long, churning out a solid product following the arrival of coach Ime Udoka and veterans Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks. But after starting center Alperen Şengün was lost for the season with an ankle injury, someone had to step up.

Things are a bit different now. The Rockets are still dealing with absences, as Jabari Smith Jr. (fractured left hand) and Tari Eason (left leg) remain in recovery. But Houston flies in a different airspace these days. The team is 26-12, having won four in a row and nine out of its last 12 — comfortably in the threshold right below the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, boasting a similar record to the reigning champion Boston Celtics and a better mark than teams like the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks. The Rockets are feisty and doing their best “Bad Boys” impression. They’re a nightmare defensively (third in efficiency, per Cleaning the Glass) and dangerous in the open court.

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And for all the growth on the roster — Şengün has emerged as a two-way centerpiece, and second-year forwards Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore have handled defensive and offensive responsibilities well — all roads lead back to the kid with the curls. And this isn’t the same Green. Not anymore.

“For sure,” Green told The Athletic. “I think it’s moreso just staying and being aggressive. Not floating out there. That’s probably one of my biggest things, when things ain’t going and I miss a couple of shots, I get to floating and not in the game. So, just finding ways to stay in the game and be involved.”

Since the calendar flipped to 2025, Green is averaging a team-high 30 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, shooting an impressive 45.6 percent from 3 and 92.3 percent from the free-throw line. His usage has jumped to 28.7 percent, placing him in the 86th percentile, according to Cleaning the Glass. But that increase hasn’t correlated to lost possessions. Green is averaging just 1.4 turnovers this month — the lowest at any point during his four-year career — and ranks in the 89th percentile in ball security. And with each passing game, Green is becoming more confident and aware of who he is, what other teams perceive him to be and how best to react to their reactions.

Monday night was a 48-minute bout of ethical hoops — Green and Grizzlies star Ja Morant exchanging buckets and words all under the umbrella of mutual respect. And Udoka, who rarely likes to single out his players, even in their great performances, couldn’t help but heap praise on his young, burgeoning star.

“I love his defensive effort,” Udoka said. “It goes under-noticed for him, probably underrated. He’s taken the challenge of (Desmond) Bane and Morant, they’re trying to put him in actions and he’s holding up really well there, taking pride in that. Obviously, the scoring stands out. I saw he matched his career high, but taking care of the ball as well. Getting more used to teams going after him.”

The Rockets certainly have immediate goals in mind, notably getting to the playoffs, securing home-court advantage and letting the chips fall where they may. Even with over half of a season left to play, a constant theme that has echoed from the locker room has been the absence of pressure and the presence of belief — two central forces in Green’s rapid ascension.

But those closest to Green insist he has always stuck to the same script since he first entered the league in 2021, regardless if he shared a locker room with an NBA champion or Christian Wood. He never felt the need to force his way into anything, whether it be a leadership position or placing himself within the Rockets’ offensive hierarchy. As early as a month ago, Green had already privately shifted his focus toward next season, anticipating a playoff run and attempting to position himself for another summer of work. No mention of chasing an All-Star nod or other personal accolades, as exciting and tempting as they may be.

Zoom in on what the Rockets have built, and it’s easy to see not only why Green is so comfortable being himself within the locker room, but also why his teammates have built the environment that is conducive to winning and growth. “Sometimes me, sometimes you, always us” was unofficially adopted as the team mantra earlier this season, the perfect remedy for an extroverted introvert in Green to flourish.

“These guys make it easy already as it is,” Green said. “Just because it’s easy to communicate in here and talk through things.”

If there’s any reason for optimism in Green’s hot start to the calendar year, it’s a combination of a subtle tweak in Udoka’s half-court offense and Green’s improving processor. It’s not perfect; the Rockets scored 96.7 points per 100 half-court plays, according to Cleaning the Glass (around league average), but Houston is making a concerted effort to get Green more looks — whether via multiple off-ball screens or simple relocation. Udoka referenced the fourth quarter of Monday’s game, highlighting the efforts of Şengün and Steven Adams in finding Green in pockets and being aggressive with their “flat spacing” to remove help defenders. Per Synergy, Green’s improved his floor-spacing efficiency, as evidenced by him scoring 1.054 points per possession (58th percentile), up from the 38th percentile last season.

For Green to reach the consistent levels of his peers, the Morants (25 years old) and Anthony Edwards (23) of the world, the cerebral part of the game shoots to the forefront. All of the greats who have come before him have had moments like this, where it feels like the basket is the size of the ocean and the world is their oyster. The key is sustenance. And, regardless of whether he’s put in that class by the basketball world or not, there’s still work to be done.

“I’m right there,” Green said. “And if not, and no one thinks that, I’m just going to keep showing it.”

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(Photo: Alex Slitz / Getty Images)