1 Reason why Rockets' Jalen Green can sustain this level of play

Houston Rockets fans never had reason to question Jalen Green's talent.

They didn't question his heart, either. Green's desire to be great was always evident. He's always seemed coachable. The questions about Green have always revolved around his consistency.

Lately, he's been consistently great.

Rockets' Green is (finally) putting it together

Against the Grizzlies on Monday, Green treated Rockets fans to a career-best performance. He finished with 42 points on 13/18 shooting from the field, including a 5/6 mark from three-point range, and hit all 11 of his free throw attempts.

One game is just that - one game. Let's look for a larger sample size. Over his last 15 contests, Green is averaging 24.0 points while shooting 46.8% from the field, 37.5% from three-point range, and 88.9% from the charity stripe.

Those are star-caliber numbers. Suddenly, Green looks like the player the Rockets envisioned when they invested the second overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft in him. We've seen impressive stretches from Green in the past, but this feels different:

It feels sustainable.

Rockets' Green finding a healthier shot diet

Green's three-point volume has been a source of controversy this year. It's been suggested that he attempts too many threes.

Granted, that's a criticism that some fans would level against virtually every high-usage guard in the league. Still, Green's volume has felt egregious at times. There's no sense in hovering around the league leaders in three-point attempts if you're shooting.

Luckily, Green has trimmed the fat from his shot diet. Over that 15-game sample size, he's attempting 8.5 threes per game. That's 18th in the NBA over that same stretch.

Sure, there's still an incongruence there. Green is 18th in three-point attempts even though his percentage would rank well outside of the league's top 50 season-wide.

That's fine. The Rockets are among the league's worst three-point shooting teams. Someone has to anchor their three-point volume, and it isn't going to be Alperen Sengun or Amen Thompson. The Rockets need Green to shoot - 8.5 is contextually a healthy number.

Can he sustain this combination of volume and efficiency?

Rockets need Green to be consistent

Sustainability is a tricky concept. Identifying a viable sample size and treating it as a baseline is key. Against the Grizzlies, Green went for 42 points and hardly missed a shot.

That's not sustainable for anybody.

The last 15 games are a different story. This could be Green's median level if the Rockets are lucky. It's not unfathomable that Green could shoot 37.5% from three-point range across an entire season.

There's a reason to harp on Green's three-point shooting, Alperen Sengun has been Houston's most productive young player for two seasons. Amen Thompson has arguably shown the most potential. For Green to complement the other (non-shooting) building blocks on this roster, he has to shoot reasonably well.

He will slump again. That's the inevitable nature of being a high-volume guard in the NBA. The Rockets only need for those slumps to be as brief as possible, and for Green to sustain this level of play as often as he can. Suddenly, that feels realistic:

We all know the talent is there.