The Rockets have now played seven of their last eight away games in just thirteen nights. Last night the Rockets recorded a new defeat in Indiana but were able to reinstate Jalen Green in their squad, and the latter also stood out with an excellent performance in the shoot with in particular a nice 6/9 from the parking lot.
Although he was subject to a restriction of minutes after his injury, Jalen Green marked his comeback with 20 points for the Rockets and a notable efficiency at 3-points (6/9). In addition to the address, the confidence of number 2 of the last draft is in good shape when asked at a post-match press conference about his performance after an absence from the courts of nearly a month:
“The rehab I went through with John Lucas made my game a lot easier. We have done a lot of work on the address. So it was much easier once we got back ”
Indeed, the young Rockets shoot was not just content with open shots in the corner but also released a few disputed missiles at a good distance from the arc, quite often introduced from step-back just to make the difficulty a little more difficult. Because catch and shoot is too easy for Jalen, even after a long time without playing. Incisive from the start, even sometimes giving himself in defense and it’s quite new, JG has therefore validated with mention his return to the game, despite some sequences in head-down mode and embedding in the interior defense of Indiana, but let’s put that on the youth count goes, it is our day of kindness.
What a game. Jalen Green was brilliant and Alperen Sengun had flashes of his own; the pair even connected a few times. And the Rockets lost as well! Perfect outcome.
– RedNinetyFour (@RedNinetyFour) December 24, 2021
Jalen Green tonight:
20 Points
2 Assists
2 Steals
50% FG
6 ThreesOnly 25 minutes. ???? pic.twitter.com/TwQA19Thft
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) December 24, 2021
Jalen Green was injured when Houston ended their fifteen-game losing streak against the Bulls, before, therefore, seeing his side’s seven-game winning streak off the bench, and so it was his first game tonight with the workforce readjusted since the abandonment of the Christian Wood / Daniel Theis association and the emergence of new soldiers like Jae’Sean Tate, Garrison Matthews or Alperen Sengun. Unsurprisingly, the attack looks great with the addition of the U19 world champion, the Rockets even – at times – had the momentum in their favor against the Pacers and the squad looked even better when Jalen Green was associated to the rest of the Texan youth who have shown promise. Jae’Sean Tate compiled 18 points at 6/10 on shooting and Alperen Sengun again showed great promise by adding 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 sweets assists and 2 blocks in 20 minutes. We are therefore tempted to say that the formula is very clear, namely to surround Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green with shooters and defensive solidity, the concern now being to confirm at most who will be the requisitioned soldiers.
Jalen Green is back!
20 PTS (7/12 FG, 6/8 3PT) in 3 Quarters ????????pic.twitter.com/ZKlJrU64uE— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) December 24, 2021
Seventh loss in nine games for the rebuilding Baby Rockets. Houston now has a break until Monday, when they will complete an eight-game road trip in Charlotte. With the return of Jalen Green to the lineup, they will also have time to explore the new possibilities offered by this addition, which is rather positive before switching to 2022!
