When the Hawks raced out to a 16-point lead midway through Friday’s third quarter at Toyota Center, the flurry was punctuated by back-to-back 3-pointers by Atlanta’s pair of All-Star guards, Dejounte Murray and Trae Young. Both featured demonstrative celebrations in the aftermath, including Murray tapping Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. on top of the rookie’s head after a closeout attempt.
Shortly after, a skirmish broke out involving Murray, Young, Smith, and Jalen Green, with technical fouls issued to both teams. What was more impactful, however, is how the Rockets channeled the frustration into a change of momentum — with Houston outscoring Atlanta for the rest of the game, 54-32, to rally to a critical win.
Smith, just 19 years old and an Atlanta native, drew inspiration the incident. He finished with 21 points and 9 rebounds, including 5-of-11 on 3-pointers (45.5%) and a big offensive rebound and putback to extend the lead late. In postgame comments, Smith didn’t hold back in citing that third-quarter skirmish as an emotional turning point.
“There was a little disrespect going on from their side, so we just wanted to check them on it and just do some straightening, and we bounced back and responded with a win,” said Smith, whose team also seemed to feed off the home crowd’s energy at Toyota Center.
Jabari Smith Jr. may be a 19-year old rookie but he earned a hell of a lot of respect today. pic.twitter.com/dpQgKn6qnm
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) November 26, 2022
With Smith playing at times as an underweight-but-agile center, Houston out-rebounded Atlanta by an astonishing 68-35 margin.
“We’re not gonna take disrespect,” said Green, who scored a team-high 30 points as Houston rallied to a much-needed victory over the Hawks (hat tip, Kelly Iko of The Athletic). “Ever. No matter who it is. And we’re always going to have each other’s back, those are my brothers. We need each other at the end of the day, and we’re gonna rock with each other at the end of the day.”
Smith, Green, and the rest of Rockets (4-14) will look to keep their momentum going Saturday in the same building versus Oklahoma City. Tipoff at Toyota Center is set for 7 p.m. Central.
I mean even doing this type of stuff on the playground you are asking for trouble. Slapping someone on the top of the head is big time disrespectful and got the Rockets fired uppic.twitter.com/XNYX6zlizg
— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) November 26, 2022
Jalen Green —
"We’re not gonna take disrespect. Ever. No matter who it is. And we’re always going to have each other’s back, those are my brothers. We need each other at the end of the day and we’re gonna rock with each other at the end of the day." https://t.co/OkU5VOeAav
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) November 26, 2022
