If the Houston Rockets are going to come back from down 3-1 to the Golden State Warriors, Jalen Green has to step up in a big way.
Jalen Green's first taste of the NBA Playoffs hasn't gone as perhaps he - and the Houston Rockets - had hoped. Through three games against the Golden State Warriors, Green has been more bad than good. In fact, if it weren't for a 38-point explosion against the Warriors in Game 2, we'd be talking about a historically bad first four games for Green.
That huge Game 2 helps him save some face, but it's pretty clear that if the Rockets are going to have any shot to come back from down 3-1 against the Warriors, they're going to need more of the Green from Game 2 than he's been in Games 1, 3, and 4. If you take away that Game 2 performance, Green is just averaging eight points on 29 percent shooting from the field.
Considering that Green was the leading scorer for the Rockets in the regular season, his showing in the first few games of the NBA Playoffs is not a good endorsement for his future. In many ways, the Rockets are expecting Green to develop into a key star player for the team.
While he did show some signs of that throughout the regular season, it is quite disappointing that Green hasn't been able to show that in the postseason. If that changes over the course of the next couple of games, it could completely transform this first-round playoff series.
Jalen Green was supposed to be the ultimate x-factor for the Rockets
Heading into this matchup with the Warriors, the argument could be made that Green was somewhat the x-factor for the Rockets. If he could have a strong series and rival some of the numbers that Steph Curry was going to put up, the Rockets could find themselves on an even playing field and allow Alperen Sengun and their veterans to put them over the top.
The problem for the Rockets is that they haven't been good enough on the offensive end of the floor through the first four games of this series, and Green's struggles have played a huge hand in that. The series is far from over, and having Game 5 on their home floor will certainly help. However, the Rockets desperately need Green to break out of this postseason funk that he currently finds himself in.
And it's only when that happens that the Rockets will have a shot to come back to win this series. Time is certainly running out, and if that doesn't happen tonight, there's a good chance that Houston's season will be over.