After an atrocious playoff debut, Jalen Green redeemed himself in his second postseason outing.

The 23-year-old scored 38 points on 13-of-25 field goal shooting to lead the Houston Rockets to an emphatic 109-94 win over the Golden State Warriors in Game 2 of their Western Conference first round duel. He also recorded four rebounds, six assists, and three steals. 

Houston led all throughout and by as much as 20 three times during the match. The win tied the best-of-seven match-up at 1-1 and was especially crucial with the series shifting to Golden State’s home floor for the next two games.

Green hit eight three pointers in the win, becoming the youngest guard in league history to hit eight or more in a playoff game. His performance also made him the youngest player in Rockets franchise history to score at least 35 points in a postseason game, beating out Houston icon and two-time NBA champion Hakeem Olajuwon by 21 days.

The Rockets may be the higher seed in this No. 2 vs. No. 7 matchup, but their roster’s relative inexperience has made them the underdogs in the eyes of most against the veteran Warriors. Performances like this from Green help ease those concerns and offer a promising glimpse of what’s ahead for this Houston team.

The scoring ability of the 6’4 Green is reminiscent of the great shooting guards of the 1990s and 2000s, as he complements his elite athleticism with crafty ball-handling and footwork to generate his shots. He naturally takes more threes than his predecessors given the evolution of the game, but he has not abandoned the midrange and is slowly becoming one of the league’s best in this area.

The trio of Green, all-around center Alperen Sengun, and the defensive-minded Amen Thompson already complement each other perfectly and the sky is truly the limit for these Rockets. Among this emerging ‘Big Three’, Green remains the most inconsistent though. Once he can put up performances such as his impressive Game 2 versus Golden State on a more frequent basis, this team should truly emerge as championship contenders and rekindle Houston’s hope of winning its first title since Olajuwon’s era.

The first four years of Green’s NBA career have been a rollercoaster, and it’s easy to forget he’s still on his rookie contract. But when he plays like he did in his first playoff win, the potential that made him the second overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft  becomes impossible to ignore.