Houston Rockets rookie Jalen Green was the clear leading storyline in Wednesday’s unexpected victory over LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, with the No. 2 overall pick from the 2021 NBA draft scoring a career-high 32 points on extremely efficient shooting.
In postgame comments to reporters, Green — who has now scored 20+ points in seven of his last nine games — did not hold back when it came to explaining how many of those buckets came about.
“In the beginning of the game, our game plan was to attack Melo (Carmelo Anthony), and to just find the mismatch on the floor,” Green told reporters. “So when it came down to it, we were just looking for Melo, and I was just attacking him every time until they stopped it.”
Green scored 10 of those 32 points in overtime, with many buckets coming after the man Anthony was guarding came to set a pick — which forced him to be switched into a matchup versus Green.
“I was just looking for Melo (Carmelo Anthony) and attacking him until they stopped it,” said Jalen Green about taking over the game against the Lakers. #Rockets #LightTheFuse #JalenGreen #Sarge pic.twitter.com/AbAwvJ0RjK
— #SARGE (@BigSargeSportz) March 10, 2022
Now 37 years old, Anthony is already a lock to be in the Hall of Fame whenever his distinguished professional career ends.
But he has been a defensive liability for years — after all, it’s why the Rockets chose to part ways with him after only 10 regular-season games in 2018-19 — and the current Houston group isn’t shy about exploiting Anthony’s lack of lateral quickness as his NBA career draws to a close.
Jalen Green said Houston's gameplan in OT was to attack Melo in isolation. pic.twitter.com/tOdqXz3bOK
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 10, 2022
