When the Rockets watched Alperen Sengun get injured late in their game at Sacramento on March 10, they knew that some adjustments to the starting lineup would be coming. After all, Houston’s third-year center was having a phenomenal season.
Head coach Ime Udoka did have one advantage, though. He had a player already in his starting lineup who could fill those shoes, and he welcomed the challenge of playing a position that he had played only sparingly over the first two seasons of his NBA career.
Jabari Smith Jr., 20, moved to Sengun’s position, while rookie Amen Thompson played power forward for the first time in his career. The result was an eight-game winning streak and a coming-out party for Smith, who was a fourth option in the offense to start the season behind Jalen Green, Fred VanVleet, and Sengun.
In the 14 games since the lineup change, Smith has shown clear improvement on offense while averaging 16.4 points (48.8% FG, 40.5% on 3-pointers) and 6.7 rebounds per game. His play became a crucial part of keeping Houston’s postseason hopes alive into early April.
“I love it,” Smith said when asked about being a scoring threat when Green gets double-teamed by opponents. “That is helping me. When they double him [Green], when they double Fred [VanVleet] in the pick-and-roll, it opens up my game and it opens up a lot of opportunities for me, Dillon [Brooks], people off the ball. It is good.”
“Coach really trusts me there,” Smith said about his placement on the offense when teams go to a zone. “Just getting in there, making the right play, and being aggressive.” pic.twitter.com/wGsJLEDLZG
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When opposing defenses are not sending multiple defenders to Green or VanVleet, they often resort to zone defense to keep Houston’s athletic guards and wings from getting to the rim. This tactic gave the Rockets some problems earlier this season, which Houston adjusted to by making Sengun a facilitating hub from the mid-post.
But once Sengun left, Houston turned to a different offensive scheme to beat the zone. They put Smith at the free-throw-line extended area, where he can burn defenses with mid-range jump shots.
“It is a luxury,” Udoka said after Tuesday’s win over Orlando. “His mid-range is obviously pretty good, and he has a size advantage.”
After recording 23 points (52.9% FG, 60.0% on 3-pointers, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists versus the Magic, Smith was similarly optimistic.
“Coach really trusts me there,” Smith said of his placement. “Just getting in there, making the right play, and being aggressive. I have shooters around me, Fred around me, Dillon around me, Jalen around me. So, I have shooters around me, and that kind of opens up everything for me. It is fun when they go zone, because it shows that they can’t guard us in man [defense]. We take that as a compliment.”
