The Rockets aren’t good.
But they are young.
Which at least partially explains how they boat-raced the Lakers in overtime – outscoring them 19-10 in five minutes en route to a 139-130 victory – and how Houston rookie Jalen Green discussed it afterward.
AT&T SportsNet Southwest:
JALEN GREEN CAREER HIGH 32 POINTS !!!!
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏#Rockets beat the Lakers 139-130@cayleighgriffin talked with @JalenGreen after the WIN@HoustonRockets #LightTheFuse pic.twitter.com/tZ9MUjzW6N
— AT&T SportsNet SW (@ATTSportsNetSW) March 10, 2022
Green, who scored a career-high 32 points Wednesday:
The game plan was attack Melo, put him in isolation. And my teammates kept feeding me, so I knew what to do with it.
Nate Duncan of the “Dunc’d On” podcast:
Ultimately the Rockets scored 14 points in 6 possessions with Green attacking Melo in PnR late in the 4th Q in OT. https://t.co/yGO7AyWnrI
— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) March 10, 2022
That’s a 233 offensive rating!
Of course, the Rockets attacked Carmelo Anthony. The 37-year-old can be a defensive liability, especially late in a taxing game.
But opponents rarely say so this explicitly.
Green might not know better. Which is a treat for those of use who enjoy the candor.
In fairness to Anthony, he was far from alone in playing subpar defense for Los Angeles tonight. The old Lakers were particularly horrid in getting back in transition against the running Rockets. Several solid offensive performances – 23 points and 12 assists from a returned LeBron James, 30 points from Russell Westbrook, 20 points from Malik Monk, 17 points from Austin Reaves (whom Green also named as a defensive target – went to waste. That wasn’t because of just Anthony.
But because of Green, Anthony will be the face of this loss for Los Angeles.
