Jabari Smith Jr.'s breakout is here and ready to stay for the whole season

The first game of the season was a rousing success for the Rockets and there's plenty of praise to go around. The Houston Rockets beat the Dallas Mavericks at the Toyota Center, 128-110, and a large part of this win can be credited to Jabari Smith Jr.’s game. In 36 minutes, Jabari had 30 points and 5 rebounds on 11-for-17 shooting (4-for-8 from the three).

Smith is set up for a breakout when the Rockets need it most

This season marks the first year of Jabari’s 5-year, $122 million contract and he looks worth every penny so far. For a team in desperate need of 3-point shooting he stepped up to the plate, and I believe we could see this consistently throughout the season. At first glance, Jabari looks like he also got stronger in the off-season, making him a more confident leader on the court.

It is worth noting that having Fred VanVleet back out there made the offense flow a lot better than it did last season. You can even see Marcus Smart’s impact out there after that one game, proving what we all know: having good point guard play matters. This opens up doors for everyone around them, like Jabari in this win.

Your opinion on the Dallas Mavericks is what makes the difference here; they were 26-56 last season but showed some fire by season’s end. This is an amazing win, but it will look even better if Cooper Flagg continues with his major leap into stardom. Having guys like Flagg and P.J. Washington guard Jabari and seeing him score at will should give fans a huge boost in what he could be.

Jabari could be shifting his career narrative

Somehow we are going into season five for Jabari, and his scoring of 30 points tonight alone speaks in large part to his improvements. His career high is 34; this happened back in 2023 so since then we have had an idea of who he is as a scorer, but this game shows we might see that change this season. It would be impossible not to mention that Kevin Durant also provided 30 points tonight, giving us what could be a dangerous duo to come.

Seeing Smith as the other half of that duo with Durant would be unexpected, since Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson were expected to be ahead of him in the pecking order. But an offensive leap from Smith would be a very pleasant surprise for everyone in Houston.

That includes head coach Ime Udoka, who faced a lot of criticism in recent months for Houston’s offensive play last season. If Udoka can continue to put Jabari in great positions on offense and coach up the defense, the Rockets could be a dangerous team.

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