Rockets' Jalen Green Reflects On Career Performance Against LeBron’s Lakers
HOUSTON — Jalen Green scored a career-best 41 points during the final game of the 2021-22 campaign. But Green's breakout performance took place a month prior to closing out his freshman season against the Atlanta Hawks on April 10.
Green scored a then-career-high 32 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 139-130 overtime victory over the Los Angeles Lakers inside the Toyota Center. He took over the game down the stretch for Houston by scoring a combined 19 points in the fourth quarter and overtime period.
Despite registering a win against a Lakers team that fell short of their championship expectations, Green's performance against Los Angeles helped the rookie find his footing on an NBA level, given his ability to go toe-to-toe with LeBron James.
"I think that game started my upward trend with my confidence," Green said during his guest appearance on the Bill Simmons podcast. "When you are on the big stage with the best players, you tend to get a little more juiced up. That game was one of my favorites this season."
Green and James had few off-court conversations prior to their four-game regular-season meetings.
James reached out to Green ahead of the 2022 NBA Draft to share some pointers about the league, and the two found out they had a lot in common. The early conversations helped cease the butterflies most rookies face when playing against James for the first time.
The high confidence and unwillingness to back down as a young player are similarities James witnessed when comparing Green to his 19-year-old self. Green averaged 21.7 points on 49.2 percent shooting from the field when playing against the Lakers this past season.
"He has great shot-making ability," James said following the Lakers' loss to the Rockets on March 9. "Everybody looks at his athletic ability, but his ability to make shots, he’s been doing this for quite a long time now, going back to high school.
“I feel like he’s just getting better and better, and the great thing about him being (in Houston) is they’re a super young group besides a few guys. It’s allowing him to make mistakes and learn on the fly, and that’s gonna benefit him.”
Green averaged 22.8 points on 47.6/41.0/79.7 shooting splits during the final 17 games of the season following his performance against Los Angeles.
Green fell short of his Rookie of the Year aspirations but received first-team All-Rookie honors. He started in 67 games while averaging 17.3 points (second among rookies), 3.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists. Green hit 157 3-pointers, which is tied for the fourth-most through the first 67 games played by any player in NBA history.
