Amen Thompson can silence the noise with lockdown performance against Warriors

Amen Thompson has been getting a lot of criticism recently for his offensive regression this season and underwhelming impact numbers, but he can change everyone's minds with great defense against the Warriors on Tuesday night. If Thompson can slow down Stephen Curry in a primetime game, the critics won't have anything to say about his importance to the Rockets.

Thompson needs to get back to standout defense

The past few games have been below Thompson's usual standard. He's arguably even lost his title as Houston's best perimeter defender, since the Rockets have so many options to throw at guards and wings these days. It's all culminated in a shocking plus-minus impact stat on the season: the Rockets are slightly negative with Thompson on the court and utterly dominant without him.

Thompson's impact has always started from his defense, but he hasn't been able to shut down opposing guards at the same rate this season. Some of that does come from the Rockets' specific coverages, but the last three games have nonetheless seen LaMelo Ball, Devin Booker and Jamal Murray have big performances against Houston.

Normally, Thompson would start with the matchup on each of those players but he hasn't been able to neutralize them. Next up is an even bigger test against Stephen Curry, who is averaging over 30 points per game this season. Unsurprisingly, he's been hyper efficient while doing it too; Curry leads the league in true shooting percentage among players scoring at least 20 points per game.

Unlike other top scorers, Curry doesn't often have to settle for bad shots because his elite shooting makes nearly every look a good one. Thompson will have his hands full trying to slow down Curry, but it's the fastest way for him to rediscover his defensive mojo. Once Thompson is able to dominate individual defensive matchups while also providing great help defense, the rest of his game should follow.

Thompson has also taken an offensive step back

Last season, Thompson was clearly overtasked as de facto point guard for the Rockets throughout the season. But he embraced the challenge head-on and put up respectable stats with solid efficiency. This season, he's playing less of an on-ball role with true point guards back in the rotation.

It wasn't a surprise to see Thompson's counting stats drop with Fred VanVleet and Marcus Smart running the offense. But it has been a surprise to see Thompson's efficiency drop too. He's shooting about 5% worse from 2-point range this season (52% compared to 57% last season) despite having less self-created looks.

Amen Thompson has some work to do on both ends before getting back to his best play for the Rockets. He's rightfully facing some critiques so far in the season, but some standout defense can help him get back in everyone's good graces.

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