Houston Rockets: Jalen Green is Turning Into a True Two-Way Player

The Houston Rockets have dominated on the defensive end this season, leading to a top two seed in the Western Conference. Jalen Green has been a key contributor in Houston's success defensively early on.

Nov 27, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain (20) controls the ball against Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green (4) during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The Houston Rockets have been one of the hottest teams to start the 2024-2025 NBA season.

Coming off of a tight win against the No. 1 seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston now sits just .5 games behind the top spot in the Western Conference as its defense continues to cause problems for opposing teams' offenses with Jalen Green becoming a major factor on that end of the floor.

Green, now in his fourth season, has continued to struggle with efficiency and consistency as a scorer, but has found ways to stay on the floor thanks to a huge improvement on the defensive end.

The star guard has a defensive rating of 107.3 on the season which is 16th best in the entire NBA. He's also averaging a steal a game for the first time in his career, helping the Rockets become one of the better fast break teams this season.

The hope around Green coming into this season was that he would make a "superstar jump," and that it would come in the form of him becoming an efficient 25+ per game scorer. But him becoming a force on the defensive end may have been the leap he needed to get to that status instead.

The explosive guard has now become a player who can light a team up for 30 points on any given night, and also give teams a hard time on the other side of the ball every game.

Houston is reaping the benefits of Green's improvement this season, sitting second in the NBA in defensive rating.

The team has found its identity. It will disrupt your offense, it will force a plethora of turnovers and will capitalize on every mistake you make.

With Green already becoming a major contributor for the Rockets on defense, the expectation is his offense will become a bigger factor down the road. He still has had his fair share of boom games this season, but the consistency has not been there.

Luckily for Houston, Green's defense has helped it jump out to a great start to the season, and has given the team what it desperatly needed to become a major threat in the west: A true two-way star.

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