Rockets' Jalen Green Named Breakout Player

Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green has stepped his game up this season.

Green has showcased more of an all-around game, and that has been a big reason behind Houston's ascent from the middle of the pack last season to the top three in the Western Conference.

ESPN analysts Jeremy Woo and Chris Herring named Green as a breakout player for the season.

"Green's stats aren't markedly better than they were a season ago, but his emergence as the leading scorer of a Rockets team that, at 47 wins on March 25, has surpassed the 41 total wins Houston garnered last season has been noteworthy. In the first season of his three-year extension, Green is playing consistent basketball in a winning context as the team's leader in usage rate. It often takes scoring guards time to turn that corner, and Green has started to figure it out on a Rockets team that also has exercised patience with its other blue-chip draftees such as Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun," ESPN writes.

"Green has upped his efficiency from last season, jumping from the 61st to 68th percentile scoring as a pick-and-roll handler (leading the Rockets in those types of possessions) and, notably, has gone from the 28th to the 60th percentile in spot-ups, per Synergy. Continuing to make better decisions with the ball as well as learning to play without it on a team with plenty of other talented players is a big step in the right direction for Green."

Green will look to get the Rockets through their final handful of games in the regular season in hopes of landing the best spot in the playoff picture in the Western Conference.