The Rockets Are an Offensive Force Away

The Houston Rockets victory against the Golden State Warriors revealed a recipe for success in big games. However, Houston is missing one vital ingredient.

Dec 11, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green (4) celebrates after the game against the Golden State Warriors at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets' quarterfinal victory against the Golden State Warriors booked its ticket to Las Vegas and showed how the team has started the season so hot. The Rockets have established an identity on defense based on nonstop effort and physicality.

The league understands it now.

Teams are going into games understanding that the Rockets play a merciless form of defense, and they know who Houston's biggest defensive contributors are. The Rockets have some big games left in December to prove they truly are one of the top teams in the West. However, someone will have to step up on the offensive end if this team wants to play big games in April.

Winning a game on the shoulders of the defense is something the Rockets have done time and again throughout the season. Winning a game against a team like the Warriors shows the Rockets are a force to be reckoned with. Not to mention breaking the curse of 15 straight losses leading into the game.

It was a strong win, but someone other than Alperen Şengün has to be more consistent offensively. Sengun has proven that he is the team's alpha dog and a young star in this league in several games this season. But it's hard to tell who the second-in-command will be in any given night.

Jalen Green started the season strong, but his offensive game isn't close to consistent. Fred VanVleet was the team's safety valve last season, but his game lost a little bit of its bite this season. More times than not, he'll consistently make good decisions passing the basketball around and limiting turnovers. He hasn't shown he can consistently make good shot decisions or score at a high enough clip for a true No. 2 option.

Dillon Brooks and Jabari Smith Jr. will get threes up and an occasional mid-range jumper. Smith Jr. boosted his efficiency of late, and both players contribute to the court outside of their offense. Neither have the offensive diversity or skillset to be a consistent second scoring option.

Those names are the only true options to become this team's secondary offensive threat. Tari Eason and Amen Thompson are the team's effort guys on defense, and they usually have fewer shot attempts than the other top players on the team.

So what can the Rockets do to secure a solid 2 to make a powerful 'one-two' punch? There are a few directions the team can go to address that concern.

First, they can continue to play equal opportunity offense. Şengün is given a little more leeway to play offense on his terms in the current scheme. But even he falls into the ranks of the committee approach Rockets Head Coach Ime Udoka has built into the offense.

The next option is to wait it out for Jalen Green. While he hasn't been consistent, his good games are exactly what the Rockets are looking for out of him. Consistency truly is the name of the game for Green. Even the national broadcast highlighted his tendency to score big bucks in one game and drop enough for spare change in the next.

Two big free throws at the end of the game against the Warriors show he isn't scared of the moment. He has the talent and mentality to be this team's no. 2 scorer, but Charles Barkley said it best: the team relies too much on talent. Green is the glaring example of that judgement. The Rockets would already have what they need in-house if he could create more efficient shots for himself or make some of his tough shots more efficient.

The third option is to hand away some of the Rockets' young talent like Green to another team in return for a proven commodity.

That seems like the least likely option, especially with Jimmy Butler's agent expressing on social media that rumors about his trade may be fabricated. But someone on the team will have to step up to the plate to prevent Houston from being forced to make that decision.

The Rockets stole a tough win against the Warriors as the two of the top defenses in the league clashed horns. However, someone other than Şengün will have to provide the Rockets some consistent offense this season because games won't always bounce their way like they did against Golden State.

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